In the winter, my home does not see the sun for three months, such is the scale of Mont Blanc. At a height of 4,809m it is Western Europe’s highest mountain, and its summit forms a natural border between France to the north and Italy to the south.
The peak was first climbed by Jacques Balmat, a chamois hunter and crystal hunter, and the doctor Michel Paccard on 8 August 1786, a date that traditionally marks the start of modern mountaineering. Some 245 years later its snowy summit is still a challenge, attracting around 30,000 climbers a year, as well as many skiers and, in recent decades, paraglider pilots.
One could argue that Mont Blanc perhaps gives up its summit a little too easily, especially when compared with the razor…
