#MONT BLANC SERIES#

One hundred Italian stonemasons were brought to the Chamonix valley by Charles Albert of Sardinia to reconstruct the towns of Sallanches and Cluses that were damaged by fires. The granite of the Mont Blanc was an important source of stone for buildings during the mid-19 th century. Broad valleys, which formed along fault lines, define the massif which has been shaped by ice during the last glacial period of the ice age. Schists are also visible near the Mont Blanc’s summit.

Central granites make up the Mont Blanc, in addition to the steep slopes of the Drus, the Grandes Jorasses and the Dent du Geant. The Mont Blanc massif and Aiguilles rouges now form part of the external zone of the Alps, being the outermost layer of rock. Mountaineers climb up a ridge on the Mont Blanc massif. This movement across the landscape shaped the mountains and valleys today. This was followed by successive ice ages that caused the glaciers to advance, retreat and advance again. Once again, the collision of continental plates caused the uplift of the earth’s crust which led to the formation of the Alps' great mountain ranges, 15 million years ago.

However, sedimentary rocks were then formed after the granite and metamorphic rocks were eroded away. The Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles Rouges are predominantly made of granite intrusions and metamorphic rocks, which were originally responsible for the formation of the base of the mountains and have pushed through the older rocks around 300 million years ago.

The Alps originated 770 million years ago when upheaval of the earth’s crust lifted up schist, gneiss and limestone rocks through the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. The geology of Mont Blanc is a product of the complex geology of the Alps. An ice cap covers the summit of Mont Blanc, and its thickness varies from year to year. Glaciers cover 170 square kilometers (66 square miles) of the massif whereby 110 km2 of which are situated in France. Interestingly, the northeastern end of the massif in Switzerland is bound by a separate valley also called Val Ferret, which separates it from the Pennine Alps in the east.Due to its remarkable height, a significant section of the massif is covered with ice and deeply dissected by glaciers. Val Montjoie bounds the massif from the west while Val Veny and Val Ferret in Italy bound the massif from the south. The northern side of the massif is mainly situated in France, bound by the valley of Arve containing the towns of Argentiere, Chamonix and Les Houches. A spectacular view of the Mont Blanc massif. The massif’s northeastern end extends into Switzerland for about 40 km (25 miles) southwestward from Martigny, Switzerland. The massif extends for 46 kilometers (29 miles) and lies in a southwest to northeastern direction across the borders of France, Italy and Switzerland. Nevertheless, the ownership of the summit has been a subject of dispute between the two countries for a long time.

The Mont Blanc summit is located on a watershed line between valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy, and valleys of Montjoie and Arve in France, situated on the border between the two countries. The three towns that surround the Mont Banc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. Today, Mont Blanc is a popular hotspot for hiking, climbing trail running and winter sports, with the Gouter Route being the most popular climbing route to the Mont Blanc summit.

The first woman to reach the summit was Marie Parais in 1808. Michel Paccard were the first to climb the Mont Blanc on August 8 1786. Valley and glacier of Mer de Glace in the French Alps above Chamonix.ĭue to the mountain’s remarkable altitude, a significant proportion is covered with glaciers, the most prominent being the Mer de Glace and the Miage Glacier, both being the longest glaciers in France and Italy, respectively. There are other principal peaks within the same massif such as Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit, Aiguille de Geant Les Grandes Jorasses, Mont Dolent and Aiguille du Midi. The Chamonix Valley and Savoy Alps are located to the west of the massif, the Pennine Alps are situated to the northeast and the Valley of Courmayeur situated to the east. The massif is part of a larger range referred to as the Gaian Alps, south of the massif.

#MONT BLANC SERIES#

The series or cluster of mountains-termed massif-extends along the French-Italian border, reaching Switzerland. Mont Blanc is the second most renowned mountain after Mount Elbrus, and the eleventh most prominent mountain peak in the world. Mont Blanc, French for “white mountain”, is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, reaching a staggering 4,808.7 m (15,777 ft) altitude above sea level.

Mont blanc