Everything about Mont Blanc totally explained
Mont Blanc (
French for
white mountain) or
Monte Bianco (
Italian, same meaning), also known as
"La Dame Blanche" (French,
the white lady) is a
mountain in the
Alps. With its 4,810
m summit, it's the highest mountain in the Alps and
Western Europe.
The mountain lies between the regions of
Aosta Valley,
Italy, and
Haute-Savoie,
France. The location of the
summit itself is a subject of controversy between the two countries, as 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. This was the last official definition of this border, but often the French maps don't respect this solution.
The two most famous towns near Mont Blanc are
Courmayeur, in Aosta Valley, Italy, and
Chamonix, in Haute-Savoie, France - the site of the
first Winter Olympics. From Chamonix a cable car ascends the mountain side.
Begun in 1957 and completed in 1965, the 11.6
km (7¼
mi)
Mont Blanc Tunnel runs beneath the mountain between these two countries and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes.
The
Mont Blanc Massif is popular for
mountaineering,
hiking, and
skiing.
History
The first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc was on
August 8,
1786 by
Jacques Balmat and the doctor
Michel Paccard. This climb, initiated by
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who gave a reward for the successful ascent, traditionally marks the start of modern mountaineering. The first woman to reach the summit was
Marie Paradis in 1808.
Now the summit is ascended by an average 20,000 mountaineer-tourists each year and could be considered an easy, yet long, ascent for someone who is well trained and used to the
altitude. This impression is reinforced by the fact that from l'
Aiguille du Midi (where the cable car stops), Mont Blanc seems quite close, being merely 1000 m higher.
However, every year the Mont Blanc
massif takes many victims, and in peak weekends (normally around August) the local
rescue service flies an average of 12 missions, mostly directed towards people in trouble on one of the normal routes of the mountain. These are courses that require knowledge of high-altitude mountaineering, a guide (or at least a veteran mountaineer), and proper equipment. It is a long course that includes delicate passages and the hazard of rock slides. Also, at least one night at the refuge is required to get used to the altitude (the summit is almost 5 km above sea level); less could lead to
altitude sickness and possible death.
Ownership of summit
Since the
French Revolution this question has spurred many debates. Before this event, the whole mountain was in the
Kingdom of Sardinia for several centuries.
The first treaty to define a border in the region is dated
May 15,
1796. In this treaty the Sardinian king ceded the territories of
Savoie and
Nice to the
French Republic, and in article 4 of this treaty it says: "The border between the Sardinian kingdom and the departements of the French Republic will be established on a line determined by the most advanced points on the
Piedmont side, of the summits, peaks of mountains and other locations subsequently mentioned, as well as the intermediary peaks, knowing: starting from the point where the borders of
Faucigny, the
Duchy of Aoust and the
Valais, to the extremity of the glaciers or the Monts-Maudits: first the peaks or plateaus of the Alps, to the rising edge of the
Col-Mayor".
This act is even more confusing, because it states that the border should be visible from the town of
Chamonix and
Courmayeur. The summit isn't visible from Courmayeur, because part of the mountain lower down obscures it. Already inaccurate at the time, this treaty is no longer valid, because it was replaced by a later legal act.
This act was signed in
Turin on
March 24,
1860 by
Napoleon III and
Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, and deals with the annexation of
Savoie. A demarcation agreement, signed on
March 7,
1861, defines the "new border".
One of the prints from the
Sarde Atlas,
On September 13, 2007, a group of 20 people set up a hot tub at the summit.
Cultural works
Cinema and television
La Terre, son visage, is a documentary by Jean-Luc Prévost and published by Édition Société national de télévision française, released in 1984. It is part of the Haroun Tazieff raconte sa terre, vol. 1 series. In it he talks about the west-east crossing of Mont Blanc.
The film Malabar Princess.
The television-film Premier de cordée.
Stürme über dem Mont Blanc (Storm Over Mont Blanc, 1930) with Leni Riefenstahl and directed by Arnold Fanck.
In literature
Premier de cordée by Roger Frison-Roche
Hugo et le Mont Blanc by Colette Cosnie – Édition Guérin
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Mont Blanc by Percy Shelley
Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz
The Prelude Book VI by William Wordsworth
Kordian by Juliusz Słowacki
Protection of Mont Blanc
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.
Mont Blanc is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, and for this reason, it's threatened. Pro-Mont Blanc (an international collective of associations for the protection of Mont Blanc) published in 2002 the book Le versant noir du mont Blanc (The black hillside of Mont Blanc), which exposes current and future problems in conserving the site. (External Link
)
In 2007, Europe's highest outhouses (two) were transported by helicopter and installed at an elevation of 4,260 metres. The dunny-cans are emptied by helicopter. The facilities will service 30,000 skiers annually, and will help prevent the deposit of urine and feces that spread down the mountain face with the spring thaw.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mont Blanc'.
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