Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc (French pronunciation: ​[mɔ̃ blɑ̃]) or Monte Bianco (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmonte ˈbjaŋko]), both meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest peak in Europe outside of the Caucasus range. It rises 4,808.73 m (15,777 ft) above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.

The mountain lies in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Haute-Savoie, France. The location of the summit is on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy and the valleys of Montjoie and Arve in France. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for mountaineering, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.

The three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy, and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. The latter town was the site of the first Winter Olympics. A cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix, through the Col du Géant. Constructed beginning in 1957 and completed in 1965, the 11.6 km (7¼ mi) Mont Blanc Tunnel runs beneath the mountain between these two countries and is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes.

Aiguille du Midi

The Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m / 12,605 ft) is a mountain within the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps.

Name

The name "Aiguille du Midi" translates literally as Needle of the South: i.e. -le Midi. The southern region of France is colloquially known as le Midi, a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy.

Cable car

The cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the world's highest cable car for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3842 m. There are two sections: from Chamonix to Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 m and then directly, without any support pillar, to the upper station at 3,777 m (the building contains an elevator to the summit). The span of the second section is 2,867 m (1.781 mi) measured directly, but only 2,500 m (1.6 mi) measured horizontally. Thus it remains the second longest span width, measured directly. The tramway travels from Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille du Midi – an altitude gain of over 2,800 m – in 20 minutes, costing around €57 for an adult-ticket from Chamonix and back.

Kílian Jornet Burgada

Kílian Jornet Burgada (born October 27, 1987 in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish ski mountaineer and long-distance runner. He is widely regarded as the best trail runner in the world.

He is a six-time champion of the long-distance running Skyrunner World Series and has won some of the most prestigious ultramarathons, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, Grand Raid, the Western States Endurance Run and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run.

Jornet holds the fastest known time for the ascent and descent of Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Denali.

Biography

Jornet was born in Sabadell, Spain, but grew up in Cap de Rec, a mountain hut at 2000 meters where his father was a hut keeper and mountain guide. The hut is located at the cross-country Lles ski resort in Lles de Cerdanya. At the age of three he climbed Tuc de Molières, a three-thousander in the Pyrenees. By the age of five he climbed Aneto 3,404 m (11,168 ft), the highest mountain in the Pyrenees, and a year later he climbed his first four-thousander, the Breithorn (4,164 m (13,661 ft)) in Switzerland.

Mont Blanc massif

The Mont Blanc massif; Italian: Massiccio del Monte Bianco; French: Massif du Mont-Blanc) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its north-easterly end. It contains eleven major independent summits, each over 4,000 metres in height, and is named after Mont Blanc which, at 4,810 m, is regarded as the highest point in western Europe. Not only does the massif form a watershed between the vast catchment areas of the Rhône and Po rivers, but it also marks a border between two climate regions by separating the northern/western Alps from the southern Alps.

Topography and geography

The Mont Blanc massif is 46 km long and lies in a south-west to north-easterly direction across the borders of France (Haute-Savoie and Savoie), Italy (Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (western Valais). At its widest point the massif is 20 km across. The northern side of the massif lies mostly within France, and is bounded by the valley of the River Arve, containing the towns of Argentiere, Chamonix and Les Houches. To the west it is bounded by the Val Montjoie, containing the town of Les Contamines-Montjoie and Le Bon Nant river which flows northwards to a confluence with the Arve near Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, and thence onwards to the Rhône. The southern side the massif lies within Italy and is bounded by the Val Veny and Val Ferret whose watercourses meet just above the town of Courmayeur and which separate the massif from the Graian Alps further south. From Courmayeur these waters flow southwards as the Dora Baltea towards Aosta, eventually joining the River Po. The north-eastern end of the massif falls within Switzerland, and is bounded by a separate valley, confusingly also called Val Ferret, and which separates it from the Pennine Alps further east. Its watercourse, la Dranse de Ferret, flows northwards to join the Rhône at Martigny.

Mont

Mont may refer to:

Places

Other uses

See also