In reply to Suncream:
> Is there a rule on when to put "the" before the name of a mountain? Everyone says "the Matterhorn" but I don't know of anyone saying "the Mont Blanc". In French it's definitely "le mont Blanc" though. They even seem to say 'le Ben Nevis", which makes me very uncomfortable, even though I normally call it "the Ben".
When I climbed in the Alps in the late 60s - early 70s of British climbers typically called Mont Blanc 'The Blonk'.
> So should I say "the Dent Blanche", "the Mönch", or "the Gran Paradiso"?
IIRC, the normal way British climbers refer to all three of those is with the definite article. cf. The Eiger.