Mountain landscape - Europe

Dent du Caïman

A gap in the clouds reveals the rocky summit of Dent du Caïman, part of a 4km chain of peaks called the Chamonix needles (aiguilles) located on the south side of the valley above the town of Chamonix in France. Some basic research I did to establish who named this peak was unfruitful (Dent in French means tooth, so this summit is known as ‘Crocodile’s tooth’) but there is a record in the 1927 Alpine Journal that indicated the first ascent of this “extremely difficult peak” was in July 1905, by M. Emile Fontaine with Jean Ravanel and L. Tournier, with the second and third ascents in 1927. The primary climbing route to the summit today I understand is from Aiguille du Plan, which is in the clouds to right of this peak, which climbers reach by traversing over an intermittent summit that also has a reptilian name, which is Dent du Crocodile.