Early history The region in which the Mont Blanc massif is located has been occupied by humans for at least 70,000 years, although, as now—and because of the great height and glaciated nature of the mountains—only the lower parts of the valleys around its perimeter would have been inhabited or used as routes of communication. The Romans, who occupied the region 2,000 years ago, used the main valleys around the massif for military purposes. They gave the name
Alpes Penninae, or
Poeninae, to the highest parts of the Alpswhich extended from Mont Blanc to
Monte Rosa. They took over Aosta from the
Salassi Celtic tribe in 25 AD and engineered roads which extended northwards into Europe via the
Great St Bernard Pass and the
Little St Bernard Pass. Courmayeur, on the southern side of the massif, began to develop as a stop-off along their trans-alpine trading routes between Italy and France. Parts of the modern Tour du Mont Blanc walking trail still follow the route of a Roman road along the Col du Bonhomme and the Col de la Seigne. The Romans occupied Martigny to the north of the massif, and their influence spread out well beyond the Alps into much of northern Europe. As a result of aggressive pressure from tribes in the north, the imperial forces of Rome were gradually withdrawn from the alpine regions until, by the 5th century AD, they had left completely. The areas left behind were occupied in the western part by the
Burgundian tribes from what is today France, whilst the
Alemanni tribes from Germany moved into eastern parts, resulting in the linguistic divide found today across the Alps. Some farmers in the valley of Chamonix joined their counterparts from the neighbouring valleys of
Maurienne,
Beaufortain and
Tarentaise and crossed the Alps into southern Germany, Austria and northern Italy to sell their products and bring back goods for sale in local markets.
Tourist beginnings and
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in a monument erected at Chamonix in 1887. and
Dr. Michel Paccard. The decades that followed saw the gradual opening up of Chamonix to the world, as well as the rest of the Mont Blanc massif. The many published accounts of climbs and impressive sights amongst or around the mountain range attracted numerous wealthy and notable visitors, for whom a visit to marvel at the
Sea of Ice (the Mer de Glace) became a fashionable thing to experience. In July 1816,
Mary Shelley and
Percy Bysshe Shelley toured the Alps and visited Chamouni (as it was then known), as well as the Mer de Glace and the Bossons Glacier. They jointly published their accounts and letters in a work entitled: ''
History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland; with Letters Descriptive of a Sail Round the Lake of Geneva and of the Glaciers of Chamouni. The book concludes with Mont Blanc'', a 144-line poem by Percy Shelley, written whilst in Chamonix and which was inspired by the river Arve, the snow-covered summits, the chaotic glaciers and the forests that he experienced during their visit. Amongst many other notable visitors were:
Goethe (1779);
Chateaubriand (1805);
Madame de Staël;
Victor Hugo;
Louis Pasteur and
Franz Liszt (1836), plus two successive wives of
Napoleon Bonaparte:
Joséphine de Beauharnais (1810) and
Marie Louise of Austria (1814). In 1849,
John Ruskin spent a month in Chamonix, from where he painted some of the massif's mountains before undertaking the Tour of Mont Blanc. When Savoy was eventually annexed to France in 1860,
Napoleon III and
Empress Eugénie visited the region to mark the event and undertook to enhance road access leading to the end of the Arve valley. It saw the emergence and spread of the sport of
alpine mountaineering, and visitor numbers increased significantly. By the end of the 18th century, Chamonix was home to around 1,500 summer visitors. By 1850 it was welcoming 5,000 visitors, and by 1892 those numbers had risen to 24,000 a year.
Modern tourism , parts of which are accessible by
mountain bike. The Mont Blanc massif is now a significant tourist destination. The region attracts over sixmillion people per annum, with around one in five gaining access to its slopes by means of mechanical infrastructure (cable cars or
funicular railways). Some surveys have shown that tourists mostly come to the Mont Blanc massif and its environs for winter sports such as skiing as well as summer outdoor activities like hiking, climbing and cycling. The Aiguille du Midi Cable Car in Chamonix attracts 500,000 people each year and gives views over much of the massif, and up towards Mont Blanc itself. From Chamonix it rises to the summit of the
Aiguille du Midi at , and holds the world record for the highest vertical ascent of any cable car (). The building of the new
Skyway Monte Bianco cable car on the Italian side of the massif is expected to increase visitor numbers to Courmayeur from 100,000 to 300,000 per annum, following complete replacement of an earlier cable car system in 2015. It takes tourists from La Palud up to the
Torino Hut at its top on
Pointe Helbronner. Costing over 105million
euros, the Skyway Monte Bianco is regarded as the world's most expensive cable car installation. Other recent enhancements to tourist infrastructure across the massif have included construction of a new, and ultra-modern
Goûter Hut to accommodate the increasing numbers of mountaineers attempting the popular
Goûter Route to the summit of Mont Blanc, and investment of ½ billion
euros in Les Grands Montets and other ski areas over a six-year period from 2014 onwards. Increasing numbers of mountain tourists, ease of access into the high mountain environment, plus promotion and encouragement by tour companies offering ascents of Mont Blanc to people with little or no previous alpine experience, have led to an increase in mountain accidents and even inappropriate demands to be rescued. With up to 30,000 climbing parties now attempting to ascend Mont Blanc each year, it has gained the reputation of being one of the world's deadliest mountains. There have also been various stunts, some of which the local authorities have called reckless or stupid. In recent years, guards have been placed on the most popular route of ascent to Mont Blanc's summit at peak periods in order to ensure that those entering the mountain environment are adequately equipped and skilled. This has led to calls to limit access to the most popular summits and for the mountains to be treated with greater respect.
Scientific research The Mont Blanc massif has provided numerous opportunities for academic research, dating back to the very first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 during which Michel Paccard carried scientific equipment to confirm it as the highest summit. In 1820, an ill-fated expedition led by Dr Hamel included pigeons intended for release at varying altitudes to measure the impact of reduced air density on their ability to fly. In 1890, Joseph Vallot built a small
meteorological observatory at approximately between the
Dôme du Goûter and Mont Blanc's summit from where numerous measurements and scientific experiments were conducted. One study involved taking simultaneous temperature measurements made over many months at Chamonix, the Grands Mulets and at the observatory itself. In 1893,
Pierre Janssen constructed an
astronomical observatory on the top of Mont Blanc, partially buried within the summit ice to hold it in place. A
telescope and a
spectrograph for measuring the oxygen content of the sun were installed. The observatory was removed when it started to collapse around 1906. Three examples of modern-day uses of the high mountains for scientific research include neutrino detection, uranium pollution monitoring and climate change: • A
neutrino detector was installed deep inside the
Mont Blanc Tunnel in the early‑1980s in order to take advantage of the shielding from background radiation provided by the 4,800
meter water equivalent (m.w.e.) of solid rock surrounding it in every direction. In February 1987, the underground neutrino observatory reported the detection of a
neutrino event, believed to have originated from the explosion of the
SN 1987A supernova. • In 2005, the technique of remote laser-scanning (
LiDAR) was used for the first time in any mountain environment to research the impact of climate change on rock face stability. Seven sites in the Mont Blanc massif were selected, with the
Tour Ronde being the first to be analysed. An area of its east face of was laser-scanned from a distance of . This revealed that over a twelve-month period the face had lost of rock. The project concluded that the high rockfall rate on the Tour Ronde and elsewhere in the massif was linked to the degradation of
permafrost. This would formerly have held the mountain together more effectively, but it is now exposed to greater weathering through the
freeze-thaw cycle of water, with maximum occurrence during warm summers. In 2015, climbers captured video footage of a huge rockfall on the Tour Ronde's east face, which suggests that instability continues in this area. • In 2001, researchers from France, Italy and
Korea published the results of a study into
uranium contamination of the wider environment by wind-borne particles. They analysed an
ice core that had been drilled to a depth of on the
Dôme du Goûter, and at an altitude of . It produced an accurate timeline of contamination levels going back 200 years and was the first published uranium concentration data for any alpine or polar icefield. Ice that pre-dated 1940 was shown to contain fairly uniform and low levels of uranium, consistent with natural background contamination. In contrast, ice that had been laid down after
World War II showed large excesses. These were attributed to aerial transport of uranium dust, produced by extensive mining and milling operations that occurred in
East Germany (and also in France to a lesser extent) between 1965 and the end of the 1980s. No evidence was found that either the 1986
Chernobyl disaster or other
nuclear power plants had caused the high levels of observed uranium contamination.
Modern military history ) ascend to the summit of Mont Blanc. Illustration from
Le Petit Journal, 1901. A
troop garrison, known as the Casermetta, was active for many years at the Col de la Seigne, on the border between France and Italy. In the 1930s, during a period of increased international tension, the Mont Blanc massif was used by both countries wanting to demonstrate their military might, and large
drills and
troop exercises were undertaken at high altitude. During World War II, at a time when the French army had already been defeated by
Nazi Germany, France found itself under attack again, but this time by Italian soldiers in many alpine locations including the area around the Col de la Seigne. Evidence of past fortifications and old firing points are still visible throughout the area Towards the end of World War II, the highest engagement of the entire war occurred on the glaciers above Chamonix. With the Germans nearly defeated, and their garrison in Chamonix surrounded by the liberating forces, a contingent of Austro-German soldier—who were based around the
Torino Hut on the Italian side of the massif—launched a dawn bombardment on Chamonix from positions adjacent to the cable car station on the Col du Midi. Their attack was met with fierce opposition from French resistance fighters, and took place at an altitude of . Nine of the attacking soldiers were killed, including their commander.
Incidents and tragedies A number of noteworthy incidents have occurred across the massif over the last two centuries which stand out from the routine toll of mountain-related deaths, of which there are now approximately 100 per annum. • 1946: A
B-17 Flying Fortress crashes into the Aiguille des Glaciers. All eight crew are killed. • 1950:
Air India Flight 245 crashes close to summit of Mont Blanc. All 48 passengers and crew are killed. • 1961: French jet fighter plane severs cable on
Vallée Blanche Cable Car, killing six tourists and leaving 59 trapped. • 1966
Air India Flight 101 crashes close to summit of Mont Blanc. All 106 passengers and 11 crew are killed. • 1997: British mountain guide is successfully sued by six-year-old boy over father's death in a climbing accident on the
Tour Ronde in 1990. • 1999: Avalanche kills 12 people and destroys 17 houses in villages of Le Tour and
Montroc - the worst incident in Chamonix for 90 years. • 1999: A
lorry fire in the
Mont Blanc Tunnel kills 39 people. • 2012: Ice fall triggers
avalanche on Mont Maudit, affecting 28 climbers. Nine climbers killed, nine others injured. ==Access==