Jacques Balmat (), called ''Balmat du Mont Blanc'' (1762–1834) was a

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, a

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

ard mountain guide, born in the

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

valley in

. He is known for the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

with physician

Michel-Gabriel Paccard Portrait of Michel Gabriel Paccard. Reproduced from an old portrait in the possession of M. J. P, Cachat, of Chamonix (his great grandson). From a photograph by Tairraz, of Chamonix Michel Gabriel Paccard (; 1757–1827) was a Savoyard medical do ...

on 8 August 1786 .

Early life and education

Jacques Balmat was born in 1762 in the

valley in

, at this time part of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

. He was a hunter and collector of

crystals A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...

Career

On 8 August 1786 Balmat completed the

with physician

. For this feat, King Victor Amadeus III gave him the honorary title ''du Mont Blanc''. After the successful ascent, Balmat collected the reward offered 25 years before by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure to the first man who could climb Mont Blanc. Barely one year later on 3 August 1787 he assisted de Saussure himself to reach the summit with a party of about 17 people. During the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Savoy fell under French control, and citizen Jacques Balmat became a member of the council of the commune. He led an unsuccessful attempt to introduce

Merino The Merino is a list of sheep breeds, breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monop ...

sheep into the Chamonix valley.

Personal life and death

Balmat died age 72 by falling off a cliff while prospecting for gold in the Sixt valley in 1834.

Reception

C. Douglas Milner wrote "The ascent itself was magnificent; an amazing feat of endurance and sustained courage, carried through by these two men only, unroped and without ice axes, heavily burdened with scientific equipment and with long iron-pointed batons. The fortunate weather and a moon alone ensured their return alive." Milner described Balmat's story as "cloudily romantic and largely fictional" and quoted four analysts of mountaineering history who discovered errors in Balmat's version of events. In 1966, Eric Shipton wrote "Theirs was an astounding achievement of courage and determination, one of the greatest in the annals of mountaineering. It was accomplished by men who were not only on unexplored ground but on a route that all the guides believed to be impossible." Shipton also described Balmat as "boastful and conceited" and that "in character, he was both vain and mean. Success went to his head, and he soon began to amplify his part in the exploit." In 1975,

Gaston Rébuffat Gaston Rébuffat (; 7 May 1921, Marseille – 31 May 1985, Paris) was a French Mountaineering, alpinist, mountain guide, and author. He is well known as a member of the first expedition to summit Annapurna Massif, Annapurna 1 in 1950 and the f ...

praised Balmat's climbing abilities, describing him as "This man, robust, resolute, this crystal hunter who, as it turns out, possesses an extraordinary mountaineering sense, an unerring instinct for the crevasses and

serac A serac () (from Swiss French ''sérac'') is a block or column of glacial ice, often formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier. Commonly house-sized or larger, they are dangerous to mountaineers, since they may topple with little warning. ...

s of the glaciers ..." Balmat was criticized for his autobiographical account of the climb, later published in English as ''Jacques Balmat, or The First Ascent of Mont Blanc'', since his account downplayed the role of his companion Dr. Paccard.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmat, Jacques 1762 births 1834 deaths People from Chamonix Alpine guides Mountain climbers from the Kingdom of Sardinia Accidental deaths from falls Gold prospectors