Located in the Graian Alps mountain range that covers significant areas in the countries of France, Italy and Switzerland, Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the mountain range, measuring at 15,782.3 ft in elevation. This magnificent height makes the Mont Blanc summit the highest peak in Western Europe, and the second highest peak in all of Europe! The Mont Blanc massif itself, with its eleven separate summits that each tower over 4,000 ft in elevation, has been a source of curiosity, exploration and inspiration for mountaineers, nearby villagers,and authors and poets (especially during the Romantic period) for centuries. 

Named after its incredible glacier caped tops, “Mont Blanc” literally translates to “white mountain” in French. Today, these glacier tops have attracted people all over the world to engage in activities on the Mont Blanc massif, such as “hiking, climbing, trail running and winter ports such as skiing and snowboarding” (Wikipedia). However, even though the mountain has been around far longer than written history can tell us, these outdoor activities weren’t popular until after “mountaineering” became a widespread sport in the mid-eighteenth century; especially with the aftermath of the Enlightenment era, and in the wake of the Romantic era that both focused heavily on the aspects of nature and human relationships to nature. 

Mountaineering was a quest to reach the top of a mountain's summit that was both physically and mentally challenging for the climber. Upon reaching the top, a climber was sure to feel rejuvenated spiritually as they beheld the views of the valley below them, and feel pride and joy in their work for accomplishing a hard task. The idea to mountaineer Mont Blanc was inspired by a man named “Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, on a first visit to Chamonix in 1760, viewed Mont Blanc and determined that he would climb to the top of it or be responsible for its being climbed,” (Britannica). It would take years before Horace-Bénédict de Saussure would mountaineer Mont Blanc, in 1777 to be exact, however, he did stick to his word and offered prize money for whoever would climb to the top of the summit first, which was taken up by a man named Michel-Gabriel Paccard, a Doctor in Chamonix, and split with his porter, Jacques Balmat nearly twenty-five years after Horace-Bénédict de Saussure offered it. Very quickly, mountaineering also became popular amongst scientists and philosophers in the 18th century, who sought after knowledge with an increased effort to record their observations. These scientists and philosophers favored the Graian Alps with “a special attraction… because of the glaciers on the Mont Blanc chain” (Britannica). 

Thus, it wasn’t until the eighteenth century that we had some sort of writing about people hiking the mountain and what they experienced there. In fact, the past history of Mont Blanc and what is known as the Valley of Chamonix, which houses the French town Chamonix at the base of it, is hardly known. In a book titled Chamonix and The Range of Mont Blanc: A Guide, the author, Edward Whymper, mentions that even the name of “Mont Blanc” is only traced to the year 1742, but historians know of people who lived there prior to that date, beginning in the year 1066-1071, because of records of a “Count Aymon [who] bestowed the Bendictine Abbey” to the Valley of Chamonixe “[establishing a Priory'' (Whymper 1-2). As the village began to grow, the Priory “had things their own way, and enjoyed all but absolute jurisdiction;... There were a certain number of free men, but the greater part were a little better than slaves…occasionaly sold or transferred..could not marry without authorisation; and occasionally burned at the stake” (2). Burning at the stake usually happened because of heresy, adultery, or for people who were apostate and impenitent (3). The valley’s misfortune continued until the 1780s when “on the 30th of October 1786, the rule of the Priory of Chamonix expired at the stroke of midnight and buried the next morning, having last 696 years. When the French Revolution came, the [people] said, ‘Ah! If we had only been able to look into the future and had waited a few years, we should have been enfranchised without paying anything” (5); paying as in the loss of men and money. 

However, the future of the Valley of Chamonix is now bright. Thousands of people from all over the world come to visit Chamonix at the base of Mont Blanc, to learn of its history and culture. However, the crowning part of people’s journey’s to this valley seems to be the enjoyment of Mont Blanc - being able to take a cable car up close to the summit, or being able to hike up the mountain for 2 days with their icepicks and warm coats.

Works Cited:

“Mountaineering | Definition, History, Equipment, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/sports/mountaineering. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

Whymper, Edward. Chamonix And The Range Of Mont Blanc: A Guide. Sagwan Press, 2018.

Wikipedia contributors. “Mont Blanc.” Wikipedia, 19 Apr. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc.