Mont Blanc: Everything you’ll ever need to know about Europe’s highest mountain.
There is only one spiritual home of alpine culture - Chamonix. Hemmed in by 3000m mountain ranges, and the mighty Mont Blanc, Chamonix long ago shed it’s agrarian roots to become a mecca for extreme thrill seekers and sightseers alike. Most major developments in mountain tourism have there roots in Chamonix, which also held the first Winter Olympics in 1924, and today the allure of Mont Blanc still draws the crowds.The Alps and Mont Blanc are the result of the merging of the European and African plates, and have been subsequently altered by seven separate glacial epochs. Mont Blanc doesn’t conform to the classical pyramidal form, rather the Mont Blanc massif takes days to drive around, and the domed, snow and ice capped summit can look more like a dormant volcano than Europe’s highest peak. During the last ice age the Chamonix Valley was under 1km of ice, and the glaciers of Mont Blanc deposited rocks as far as way as Lyon. The current glacial cap is 10,000 years old - a mere blip in geological time.With over 3000m of vertical difference between the Chamonix Valley floor and the summit of Mont Blanc (more than the height difference between Everest Base Camp and Everest) there is a huge variance in temperature and snow conditions. Like any large mountain Mont Blanc creates its own weather with blasting winds whipping the summit and temperatures at the top dropping as low as -50°C.These harsh conditions and extreme height gain meant it took decades for mountaineers to overcome the difficulties of reaching the summit of Mont Blanc. In 1760 Saussure offered a reward for the first to summit Mont Blanc, but it was a full 26 years before Jaques Balmat and Michel Paccard were to claim the prize. These days summit days are likely to feature complaints of overcrowded huts and garbage - with as many as 30,000 summit attempts each year. The most popular route nowadays is the Gouter Route, which is the least technically demanding, and thus often overcrowded. The other popular route is Les Tres Mont Blancs starting at the Aiguille du Midi and summating the false summits of the Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit before the final push.The Aiguille Du Midi is 3,842m high, and when it was finally completed in 1927 was the highest cable car in the world. The lift was conceived by Swiss engineers in 1905, but abandoned after technical problems. It was a French company, Funicular Railways, which made a fresh attempt in 1908. The opening of the Planpraz-Brevent cable car diminished the popularity of the Aiguille du Midi and it was closed in 1951 before being rebuilt, extended and reopened in 1955 by the Italian engineer Count Totino. Today not only is it the Aiguille du Midi the start of Les Tres Mont Blancs and the famous glacial itinerary - the Vallee Blanche - but also one of the most popular view points in the world. However, summiting Mont Blanc is no stroll, with more dying each year on its slopes than on Everest. As such mountain guiding has a long and illustrious history in Chamonix. La Compagnie des Guides De Chamonix was formed in 1821 after one of the most famous accidents in Mont Blanc’s history. In 1820 a British scientist, Dr Hammel, mounted an expedition to try and determine the exact height of Mont Blanc. Hammel used local guides and the expedition started well, but when conditions worsened Hammel ordered the guide, against their advice, onwards. The caravan set of a huge avalanches just below the Petits Mulet which swept many guides and porters down the mountain and into a gaping crevasse. The guides’ widows were thus bereft of income and so the guides unionized and formed an emergency fund to protect against similar tragedies. Few glacier complexes in the world have been subjected to as much interest, both from tourists, climbers, skiers and the scientific community alike (who have carried out research on Mont Blanc since the 18th Century). What is disturbing for skiers, alpinists and the tourist alike is that all of Mont Blanc’s glaciers could disappear by 2100. Today Mont Blanc is a landscape in motion, and with global warming contributing to the receding glaciers, it is more important than ever to appreciate Mont Blanc in all its splendour.
About the Author
Matt lives and works in Chamonix in the French alps. He renovates properties in the summer and runs skiing holidays the winter through his company Chalet 1802 Visit their website at: http://www.chalet1802.co.uk
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