Geography
The summit of Dent Blanche is an important geographic place as it is the converging point of three ridges. The three valleys separated by them are the Val d'Hérens, Val d'Anniviers and Mattertal. The respective villages of Evolène, Zinal and Zermatt lie approximatively at the same distance of the mountain.
The Dent Blanche has four steep faces rising over four glaciers: The north-east face (also called north face) rises above the Grand Cornier Glacier (part of the Zinal Glacier), the south-east face rises above the Schönbiel Glacier (part of the Zmutt Glacier), the south-west face rises above the Manzettes Glacier (part of the Ferpècle Glacier) and, finally, the north-west face of Dent Blanche rises above the homonym glacier.
The four ridges encompass almost exactly the four cardinal directions. The west ridge is named Arête de Ferpècle and the east ridge is named Arête des Quatre Ânes. The Col de la Dent Blanche (3,531 m) lies at the foot of the northern ridge, the Bivouac de la Dent Blanche is located there. The Dent Blanche Hut lies at the foot of the southern ridge which is used as the normal route.
The region around Dent Blanche consists of many 4000 metres peaks. The Ober Gabelhorn (west), Dent d'Hérens and Matterhorn (south) are the closest high summits.
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