Mont Blanc, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Mont Blanc rises to 4,807 metres on the border between Haute-Savoie and the Aosta Valley in Italy. Its summit, roughly ten kilometres south of the village of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, is the highest point in the Alps and in Western Europe, hence its nickname "roof of Europe". Its first ascent, in 1786, marks the beginnings of mountaineering as it is practised today.

The "Cursed Mountain"

For centuries this summit inspired mostly fear. On old maps it is called the "Accursed Mountain". In the 17th century, in the midst of the Little Ice Age, valley residents organised processions and exorcisms to halt the advance of the Mer de Glace towards Chamonix. Until the 18th century, only a few chamois hunters and crystal seekers ventured into the massif.

1786, the year of the first ascent

As early as 1760, the Swiss naturalist Horace Bénédict de Saussure offered a reward to whoever reached the summit. It took until 8 August 1786: Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard got there at 18:23 and stayed for about thirty minutes. Saussure made the climb himself the following year, with nineteen companions. In 1808, Marie Paradis, from Chamonix, became the first woman to reach the summit; Henriette d’Angeville followed in 1838, under her own steam. After the first fatal accident, in 1820, the valley’s guides organised themselves, and the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix was founded in 1821.

A summit on the move

The altitude of Mont Blanc is not fixed. The bedrock lies at around 4,792 metres, beneath a cap of snow and ice between 15 and 30 metres thick, which the wind sculpts like a dune. The summit is therefore higher in summer than in winter, and surveyors have measured it every two years since 2001. It also carries an old dispute: French maps place it entirely in France, while Italian maps share it between the two countries.

An energy site to contemplate or climb

Mont Blanc is often cited by enthusiasts of energy sites, who see it as one of the great summits on their list. It can be appreciated from the Chamonix valley without aiming for the summit. The ascent draws around 20,000 climbers a year, and the normal route claims several lives each year: it requires real preparation and acclimatisation to altitude, and the success rate is markedly better with a guide. The massif has been a listed site since 1951. Whether you have admired it from below or reached the top, your impression has its place in the comments below.