- Type:culmen
- Elevation:4810m
- Longitude:6° 51' 51.55" E
- Latitude:45° 49' 56.87" N
Summary |
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OverviewSummary
History
The first ascent was made on the 8th of August 1786 by Dc. Michel Paccard and Jacques Balmat, inspired by Horace-Bénédicte de Saussure who offered a reward for the first to reach the top.
You can listen to the story of Horace-Bénédicte de Saussure’s ascent (in French)... for those long nights in the hut!
The highest point in the Alps
The Mont Blanc rises in the heart of the Mont-Blanc massif and is the highest point in the Alps (4810,90 meters above sea level according to the latest measurement in September 2007).
Who does the Mont Blanc belong to?
The summit is located on the border between the French department of Haute Savoie and the Aosta Valley of Italy. France considers the summit as entirely French whereas Italy considers that it straddles the border.
In a recent map published jointly by the French IGN and the Italian IGM (1:25 000), the border is represented as a line of widely separated little crosses, that dissapear close to the summit (see wikipedia )
Ascent routesSummary
The 5 “normal routes”
Arête des BossesThe most popular route
The “3 Monts”The modern route
The Italian normal routeAlso known as the Pope’s route or the route of the Aiguilles Grises
Par les Grand MuletsThe historical route, mainly travelled on skis
via the Miage - Bionnasay - Mont Blanc traveresA longer and more technical route, but also the wildest
Alternative routes
A list of routes that lead to the summit of Mont Blanc far from the crowds of the normal routes (difficulty is generally between AD and D)
Brenva
Brenva spur
Peuterey ridge, from the Blanche de Peuterey
Peuterey - Freney - Brouillard
Innominata ridge (with integral and direct versions)
Intégrale de Peuterey via the E ridge of the Noire de Peuterey
Miage
Central buttress of Miage
Left buttress of Miage (Jaccoux-Domenech route)
Tournette spur
W slope – Benedetti and Saudan couloir, steep skiing routes.
"Grand Alpinisme"
List of complex routes leading to the summit of Mont Blanc (grades generally above TD).
Brenva
Grand Pilier d'Angle (Dufour-Frehel)
Grand Pilier d'Angle (Cecchinel-Nominè/Boivin-Vallençant)
Peuterey - Freney - Brouillard
Central pilar of Freney (classic route)
Integral Peuterey ridge
Descent routes
Various options are possible:
- via 3 Monts Blancs to the Aiguille du Midi
- via the Bosses ridge and the Gouter hut
- via the Bosses ridge and the Grands Mulets (hazardous because of serac fall)
- via the Aiguilles Grises (to the Italian side)
Map is loading. Please wait.| By the 3 Monts - Descent Face N or Corridor | 4810m | +1400m | N | 4.2/E2 | D/S4 | |||
| Par les 3 Monts - Descente par l'arête des Bosses | 4810m | +1400m | N | 3.3/E2 | AD+/S4 | |||
| Par les Grands Mulets - Face N et Arête N du Dôme | 4807m | +2500m | N | 3.2/E2 | AD/S3 | |||
| Par les Grands Mulets - Itinéraire classique | 4810m | +2500m | NW | 3.2/E2 | AD/S3 | |||
| Route des Aiguilles Grises (voie normale italienne) | 4810m | +1740m | (1700m) | S | 3.3/E2 | AD+/S4 | ||
| Traverse of the 3 "Monts" | 4810m | +1660m | (1660m) | N | 4.2/E2 | D/S4 | ||
| Versant W - Couloir Saudan | 4810m | +3400m | (1000m) | SW | 5.4/E3 | ED-/S6 | ||
| W face, Benedetti couloir | 4810m | +1400m | (1500m) | W | 5.2/E4 | TD+/S5 | ||
| Mont Blanc de Courmayeur: Arête de Peuterey par le col de Peuterey | 4810m | +2000m | (1400m) | 5.4/E4 | ED-/S6 |
| Goulotte Alexis | 4810m | +1439m | (200m) | W | AD/IV/P4 | 3 | ||
| Intégrale de Peuterey par l'arête E de la Noire de Peuterey | 4810m | +1600m | S | D/V/P2 | 4c/1 | |||
| Intégrale de Peuterey par l'arête S de la Noire de Peuterey | 4810m | +4000m | (2800m) | S | TD+/VI/P3 | 5c | ||
| Pilier central du Frêney (voie classique) | 4810m | +950m | (500m) | S | TD+/V/P2 | A0/7a+>5c | ||
| Pilier N du Frêney (pilier Gervasutti) | 4810m | +3460m | (700m) | S | TD+/IV/P3 | A1/6a | ||
| Éperon de la Tournette | 4810m | +1439m | (1439m) | SW | AD/IV/P4 | 3b | ||
| Grand Pilier d'Angle: Divine Providence | 4243m | +1500m | (900m) | E | ED4/V/P2 | A3/7b | ||
| Pointe Louis Amédée: Par le Glacier du Brouillard > col E. Rey | 4460m | +1900m | S | AD+/IV/P4 |
| Pilier Rouge du Brouillard: Voie: Anneaux magiques | 4150m | +250m | (250m) | S | ED-/II/P3 | 6c>6b |
- Guida dei Monti d'Italia - Monte Bianco vol. 1 - Gino Buscaini - 1994
- Les 4000 des Alpes - Helmut Dumler, Willi P. Burkhardt - 2000
- Mont Blanc 4808m - 5 Voies Pour Le Sommet - François Damilano - 2004
- Mont-blanc, premières ascensions (1770-1904) - Collectif - 2012
- 4000 des Alpes - Richard Goedeke - 2003
- Ascensions au pays du Mont-Blanc - Jean-Louis Laroche, Florence Lelong - 2000
- Chemins du Ciel - Les plus belles courses d'arêtes des Alpes - Mario Colonel - 2003
- L'alpinisme - Des premiers pas aux grandes ascensions - Jean-François Hagenmüller, François Marsigny, François Pallandre - 2009
- La chaîne du Mont Blanc, Guide Vallot : I - Mont-Blanc - Trélatête
- La Chaîne Du Mont-Blanc, sélection de voies. Tome 1, A L'Ouest Du Col Du Géant - François Labande - 2005
- Le massif du Mont-Blanc - Les 100 plus belles courses - Gaston Rébuffat - 1973
- Le topo du massif du Mont Blanc - Tome 2 - Michel Piola
- Les Plus Belles Traces du Mont-Blanc - Christophe Hagenmuller, Jean-François Hagenmuller - 2010
- Mont Blanc Classic & Plaisir - Marco Romelli - 2012
- Mont Blanc et Aiguilles Rouges à ski - Anselme Baud - 2004
- Mont-Blanc, Les plus belles courses - rocher, neige, glace et mixte - Philippe Batoux - 2012
- Montagnes Magazine #296 - 08-09/2005
- Montagnes Magazine #344 - 07/2009
- Montagnes Magazine #381 - 07/2012
- Neige, glace et mixte - Le topo du massif du Mont-Blanc, Tome 2 - François Damilano - 2006
- Sommets du Mont Blanc - Les plus belles courses de F à D - Jean-Louis Laroche, Florence Lelong - 2010
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