Conference: Crossing Mont Blanc

Conference organized by the Association les Amis du Vieux Chamonix. Crossing Mont-Blanc: by Jacques Perret, lecturer and author.

Until the middle of the 18th century, the Mont-Blanc massif was known only as the Montagnes Maudites, and represented on maps to the north of the Arve valley. However, the Col du Bonhomme had already been used by the Romans, and local tradition has it that the present-day Col du Géant was used in the Middle Ages to get from Chamonix to Courmayeur. What is certain is that until the 17th century, access to the Chamonix valley from Sallanches required passing through the Prarion, as the undeveloped Arve gorges were impassable. The link between Chamonix and Switzerland was via the Col de Balme or, more frequently, the Col des Montets and the dreaded Tête Noire pass, followed by the Col de la Forclaz.

In the second half of the 19th century, projects for tunnels through the Alps began to flourish; the first to see the light of day in 1871 was the railway tunnel under Mont-Cenis. At the same time, a controversy erupted over the choice between a project under the Simplon and another under the Mont-Blanc; it was the Simplon rail tunnel that was finally chosen and inaugurated in 1906; it wasn't until 1965 that the road tunnel under the Mont-Blanc was inaugurated in its turn. Before that, with the inauguration of the Vallée Blanche gondola in 1957, it was possible to reach Chamonix and Courmayeur by air.

This conference will look at the accessibility of the Chamonix valley from Savoie, the Aosta valley and Valais through the centuries.