De Saussure followed the next year, as did the first Brit, Colonel Mark Beaufroy. This climb traditionally marks the start of modern mountaineering. Monument of Jacques Balmat showing Horace-Bénédict de Saussure the summit © French Moments The Swiss scientist from Geneva had offered a reward for the first person to climb Europe’s highest summit. This climb was initiated by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure. On the 8th of August 1786, the summit of Mont-Blanc was reached for the first time in recorded history by local climber Jacques Balmat and Doctor Michel Paccard. Saussure on Mont-Blanc (1787) by Marquardt Wocher (1790) Indeed, the Mer de Glace was dangerously approaching Chamonix. The glacier dangerously advancing in the valley of Chamonix (18th c)Īt the beginning of the 18th century, religious processions were organised to counter the effects of the Little Ice Age. In older times, an ice-free passage was used to link the valley of Chamonix to the Valley of Aosta. It is believed that these frightening stories were partly due to the recent growth of glaciers. The expedition teams went home re-telling the popular beliefs of the locals about their fear of glaciers, supposedly haunted by evil beings. For its ogives and curved colour bands formed at the base of the icefall. They marvelled at the size of the glacier. They named it “Mer de Glace” (Sea of Ice). There, they tackled the biggest glacier above Chamonix at Montenvert. In 1741, English travellers William Windham (1717-1761) and Richard Pococke organised a discovery expedition in the valley of Chamonix. Adventurous British visitors to Savoie went on many mountain pioneering trips in the Alps. They were considered to be a land inhabited by demons where witches and sorcerers used to dance to the sound of instruments.īut the perception of high mountains as doomed places was to be forever shaken in the 18th century. However, until the mid-1700s, nobody, even local people, dared approach the summit, or even the glaciers. From the top of her verdant kingdom, she worked on the destiny of the inhabitants living down in the valley of Chamonix. Legend has it that an enchanted kingdom once existed at the summit, governed by a fairy (the “Déesse Blanche”).
There is still a summit of the massif called as such: the Mont Maudit. Painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1803)īefore the 18th century, Mont-Blanc was locally nicknamed “the doomed mountain”. Mont-Blanc from Grand-Ballon, the Vosges’ highest summit (1,424 m) © French MomentsĬheck out this post where I regularly add photos of Mont-Blanc seen from afar.Ī bit of history The Alps from Bonneville. The majestic Mont Blanc towers are so much higher than the surrounding mountains that it stands out and can be seen from viewpoints right across Savoie, the Jura, the Massif Central or even the Vosges mountains.
#ChamonixMontblanc #VisitMontBlanc #HauteSavoiExperience #SavoieMontBlanc #MagnifiqueFrance #EnFranceAussi #FrenchAlps #FrenchMoments #FranceMontagnes #Super_france #Hello_france #Bns_france #topfrancephoto #sudest_focus_on #auvergnerhonealpestourisme #chamonixvalley #aiguilledumidi #merdeglace #chamonix_france #montblancmassif #montblancsummit #montenversĪ post shared by Photos of Beautiful France on at 9:11am PDT ? I’ll be updating the blog very soon with more pics and info about what we discovered today! ? In the meantime, check out our page on Savoie on the blog. ? There was SO much to discover: ✅ the Aiguille du Midi (3,842m high!), ✅ the Montenvers rack railway, ✅ the view over the Mer de Glace (France’s largest glacier) and ✅ a little walk in the town centre of Chamonix. Après enregistrement, vous ne pourrez modifier ces informations qu’auprès d’un conseiller en voyage.A little selection of photos taken yesterday in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Alert-triangle ancv arobase arrow-back arrow-go arrow-goback-info arrow attention avatar-female avatar-male avis-seul Plan de travail 1 avis_question backoffice badge-culturel badge-expert badge-famille badge-globe-trotter badge-label-autotour badge-label-exception badge-label-expes badge-label-sommet badge-label-sommets badge-liberte badge-photographe badge-reporter badge-univers-desert badge-univers-grand-nord badge-univers-haute-montagne badge-univers-neige badge-univers-pied badge-univers-safari badge-univers-velo badge-videaste bell Vous êtes sur le point de valider vos données.
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