Features

The Mont Blanc massif (range of mountains) forms part of the Pennine Alps and is divided between France, Italy, and Switzerland. When the Savoy region was ceded to France in 1861, France gained possession of the peak, Mont Blanc. While the present name appears to have been always in local use - it occurs in an Italian document of the year 1694 - in former days the mountain was called the Montagne Maudite (‘accursed mountain’ or Les Glacières, because of the immense glaciers found on all sides: the Bossons, Taconnaz and Mer de Glace on the north slope; and the Brenva and Miage on the south. An ice cap also covers the summit down to about 2,440 m/8,000 ft, and in places the ice is over 23 m/75 ft thick. The mountain has two observatories used for glacier study, the first being constructed just below the summit by T J C Janssen in 1893.

Ascents

The year after the first successful attempt, Jacques Balmat again made the ascent, this time with two local men, whilst later in 1787 the Genevese naturalist H B de Saussure made the third. The first Englishman to make the summit was Colonel Beaufoy (1787). The first ascents of Mont Blanc were made from Chamonix, though ascents have now been made from every side. The easiest and most popular route is from the Inn of the Grands Mulets at Chamonix to the Bosses du Dromadaire shelter-hut, and then on to the summit. Many resort hotels have been built near the mountain, which is a major tourist attraction.

Tunnel fire

The Mont Blanc Tunnel was closed in March 1999 after a lorry caught fire, killing 39 people. It was re-opened in March 2002 after extensive renovations, including the building of additional escape routes.

documents

Shelley, Percy Bysshe: From ‘Mont Blanc: Lines written in the Vale of Chamouni’

images

Mont Blanc

south face of Mont Blanc