Jacques Balmat, called le Mont Blanc (1762 – 1834) was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, and born a citizen of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
He was born in the Chamonix valley. A chamois hunter and collector of crystals, Balmat completed the first ascent of Mont Blanc with physician Michel-Gabriel Paccard on August 8, 1786. For this feat, the king of Sardinia gave him the honorary title le Mont Blanc.
Balmat and Paccard's ascent of Mont Blanc ...
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Jacques Balmat, called le Mont Blanc (1762 – 1834) was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, and born a citizen of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
He was born in the Chamonix valley. A chamois hunter and collector of crystals, Balmat completed the first ascent of Mont Blanc with physician Michel-Gabriel Paccard on August 8, 1786. For this feat, the king of Sardinia gave him the honorary title le Mont Blanc.
Balmat and Paccard's ascent of Mont Blanc was a major accomplishment in the early history of mountaineering. C. Douglas Milner wrote "The ascent itself was magnificent; an amazing feat of endurance and sustained courage, carried through by these two men only, unroped and without ice axes, heavily burdened with scientific equipment and with long iron-pointed batons. The fortunate weather and a moon alone ensured their return alive."
Eric Shipton wrote "Theirs was an astounding achievement of courage and determination, one of the greatest in the annals of mountaineering. It was...
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