The Mont Blanc massif
The highest mountain in Western Europe was first climbed on the 8th of August 1786 by a local crystal hunter, Jacques Balmat and a local doctor, Michel Gabriel Paccard. They claimed the prize money that Horace Benedict de Saussure had offered in 1760.
The mountain lies between the regions of Haute-Savoie, France and Aosta Valley, Italy. The location of the summit itself is a subject of controversy between the two countries, and each tends to place it within its own boundaries on maps. In a convention between France and Kingdom of Sardinia, in Turin (1861), the border was fixed on the highest point of Mont Blanc and this was the last official definition of this border, but often the French maps do not agree about this solution.
People had been trying for years but the breakthrough didn't come until the June of 1786 when Jacques Balmat was trapped out overnight on the glacier, AND SURVIVED; thereby destroying local myths and proving that a 2-day ascent was feasible.
Nowadays, in summer, their exploit is repeated by as many as 200 people a day.
The Mont Blanc massif is being put forward as a potential World Heritage Site because of its uniqueness and its cultural importance, considered the birthplace and symbol of modern mountaineering. However not everyone shares this goal and it would require the three governments of Italy, France and Switzerland to make a request to UNESCO for it to be listed.
To climb Mt Blanc takes good fitness, preparation, determination and luck with the weather. It is advisable to acclimatise by making at least one climb at altitude before attempting Mt Blanc, and to have some basic training in the use of ice-axe and crampons. Your chances of success will improve dramatically (to around 80%) if you do a course first ie if you're acclimatised.
The mountain lies between the regions of Haute-Savoie, France and Aosta Valley, Italy. The location of the summit itself is a subject of controversy between the two countries, and each tends to place it within its own boundaries on maps. In a convention between France and Kingdom of Sardinia, in Turin (1861), the border was fixed on the highest point of Mont Blanc and this was the last official definition of this border, but often the French maps do not agree about this solution.People had been trying for years but the breakthrough didn't come until the June of 1786 when Jacques Balmat was trapped out overnight on the glacier, AND SURVIVED; thereby destroying local myths and proving that a 2-day ascent was feasible.
Nowadays, in summer, their exploit is repeated by as many as 200 people a day.
The Mont Blanc massif is being put forward as a potential World Heritage Site because of its uniqueness and its cultural importance, considered the birthplace and symbol of modern mountaineering. However not everyone shares this goal and it would require the three governments of Italy, France and Switzerland to make a request to UNESCO for it to be listed.
To climb Mt Blanc takes good fitness, preparation, determination and luck with the weather. It is advisable to acclimatise by making at least one climb at altitude before attempting Mt Blanc, and to have some basic training in the use of ice-axe and crampons. Your chances of success will improve dramatically (to around 80%) if you do a course first ie if you're acclimatised.
posted by titzu at 1:56 AM
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