Chamonix and Mont Blanc

The valley was a remote farming community until 1741, when a party of Englishmen including William Windham and Richard Pococke visited the Mer de Glace and later published an account that drew curious travellers from Geneva. On 8 August 1786 Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard made the first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc, an event often treated as the start of modern mountaineering. In 1821 local guides formed the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix to regulate access to the peaks.

The Montenvers rack railway opened in 1909, and in 1924 Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympic Games. The present Aiguille du Midi cable car was built in 1955 and was then the highest in the world. The Mont Blanc Tunnel, opened in 1965, links the valley with Courmayeur in Italy. Since 1860 the border on the summit has been disputed between France and Italy, a disagreement that has no effect on visitors but still surfaces in maps and official statements.

Chamonix has fewer than 9,000 residents but a very international population of guides, seasonal workers and mountain-sports enthusiasts, so English is widely spoken. Savoyard food dominates menus: fondue, raclette and tartiflette made with Reblochon cheese, cured hams and sausages, and blueberry tarts in summer. The Compagnie des Guides still has its office in town, and the culture revolves around the weather forecast, which decides each day's plans for skiers and climbers alike.