Search results
Jacques Balmat (French pronunciation: [ʒak balma]), called Balmat du Mont Blanc (1762–1834) was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, born in the Chamonix valley in Savoy, at this time part of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
A farmer and crystal prospector, Jacques Balamat was born in Chamonix on 19 January 1762. He searched relentlessly for a way to climb Mont Blanc and was the first to reach the summit on 8 August 1786 with Doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
- Who Were They?
- Their Early Lives
- The First Ascent of Mont Blanc
- On The Summit
- After The Climb
- Recognition
In 1786, Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat were the first people to climb Mont Blanc (4,807m), the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe.
Michel-Gabriel was born in 1757 in Chamonix in the French Alps. He studied medicine in Turin and Paris before returning to Chamonix as a doctor. Michel-Gabriel was a modest character, energetic, with an ambition to climb Mont Blanc. By 1775, he was making numerous excursions onto the mountain. He primarily viewed mountains in scientific terms and l...
For centuries, mountains had been regarded as the domain of evil spirits; Mont Blanc was so feared it became known as the ‘accursed mountain.’ A handful of adventurous individuals had climbed to new heights on Mont Blanc, but had so far been foiled by a range of difficult mountain conditions. After one such trip, Jacques was so badly sunburnt that ...
They stepped onto the summit of Mont Blanc at around 6:30 pm, an altitude of 4,877m. They had become the first people to climb to the highest point in the Alps! Michel-Gabriel attempted to carry out a few scientific observations by taking thermometer and barometer readings. However, he found the process almost impossible as he was tired, cold, hung...
Word soon spread of their historic ascent. Jacques travelled to Geneva to inform Horace Bénédict de Saussure that Mont Blanc had been climbed. He was dually presented with his reward. Michel-Gabriel had no interest in receiving a prize. He was content in having been the first to take scientific readings from the summit. Marc Bourrit, who also lived...
One hundred years after the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1887, a statue was erected in Chamonix. It featured Jacques Balmat pointing to the summit of Mont Blanc with Horace Bénédict de Saussure looking up. Sadly, Michel-Gabriel was absent from the statue, having been all but written out of the story. Throughout the 1800s and into the next century,...
Aug 8, 2015 · A 26-year-old crystal and chamois hunter named Jacques Balmat was up to the challenge. A son of two peasants, he sold crystals to collectors, wandering between villages and in the mountains.
Jacques Balmat. 1762-1834. French gem cutter and fur trader who was part of a two-man team to first reach the top of the highest peak in western Europe. Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard reached the summit of the 15,771-foot-tall (4,807-m) Mont Blanc on August 8, 1786.
Contents. Jacques Balmat. French mountaineer. Learn about this topic in these articles: first climbing of Mont Blanc. In mountaineering: History. …Michel-Gabriel Paccard, and his porter, Jacques Balmat. A year later de Saussure himself climbed to the summit of Mont Blanc.
People also ask
When was Jacques Balmat born?
How did Jacques Balmat get his name?
Who was Jacques balamat?
How did Jacques Balmat die?
Did Jacques Balmat climb Mont Blanc?
How did Jacques Balmat get his prize money?
Jacques Balmat was born in January 1762, when alpinism was still in its infancy and was far from being a cultural fact. On the 8th August 1786, he reaches the summit of Mont Blanc with doctor Paccard for the first time.
