Note: From time to time this user sandbox page may contain a copy from the main Mont Blanc massif article (which I converted from a simple List of summits) in order to assist with re-structuring, prior to re-applying for FA status. All feedback re FA status was incorporated in that article, apart from a recommendation to reorder the sections. I plan to do experiment with that new layout in this userspace, but the page is not yet changed as I did get rather burned out, and intend to return to it later to pick up the FA ambition for this article.

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INSERTED: The Mont Blanc massif is accessible by road from within France via the A40–E25, or from Switzerland via Martigny and the Forclaz pass (1,527 m (5,010 ft)), or via Orsières to reach the Swiss Val Ferret. From within Italy the A40 from Aosta leads to Courmayeur, as does the higher mountain route from Bourg-Saint-Maurice via the Col du Petit St. Bernard (2,188 m (7,178 ft)).[note 1] The massif can be quickly crossed in a north – south direction via the 11.6 km (7.2 mi) long Tunnel du Mont Blanc which connects Chamonix and Courmayeur. It took twenty years to construct and opened to vehicle traffic in 1965.[1]


INSERTED: The massif contains 11 main summits over 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) in altitude, as well as numerous subsidiary points above this height.[2]: 264  Crowning the massif is Mont Blanc (4,808.73 metres (15,776.7 ft)), the highest mountain in the Alps and in western Europe.[2]: 278 [3]

INSERTED: The summit of Mont Blanc is an ice cap whose thickness varies from year to year.[4][5] From the summit of Mont Blanc to the River Arve near Chamonix there is a 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) drop over a distance of just 8 kilometres (5.0 mi).[6]: 23 


INSERTED: Because of its great elevation, much of the massif is snow- and ice-covered, and has been deeply dissected by glaciers. The Mer de Glace is the longest glacier in the range as well as the longest in France and the second longest in the Alps.[6]: 23 [7]: 24  The debris-covered Miage Glacier on the southern side of the massif is the longest in Italy.[8]: 39 

INSERTED: A large part of the massif is covered by ice fields and is cut by numerous glaciers, mostly flowing northwestwards on the French side; southeastwards on the Italian side and eastwards on the Swiss side.[9][10] With much steeper slopes on the Italian side, many glaciers drop very sharply and some, such as the Miage Glacier and the Brenva Glacier, are very heavily covered in rock debris. The massif is itself defined by broad valleys which formed along fault lines and which have subsequently been shaped by ice during the last glacial period of the ice age.[7]: 25 

INSERTED: 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 3,842 metres (12,605 ft), and holds the world record for the highest vertical ascent of any cable car (2,807 m (9,209 ft)).[3]

  1. The Vallée Blanche Cable Car is normally used by visitors travelling from one or other of the tourist centres of Chamonix or Courmayeur and gives views over the glaciated regions of the massif. It crosses the massif in a roughly north – south direction and connects the Aiguille du Midi with the Point Helbronner, each of which can themselves be reached by téléphérique from Chamonix and Courmayeur, respectively.[3]


IMAGES edit

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    Carte Mieulet Mont Blanc+frontispice

Geography FAs to read edit

Principle cols are Col de la seigne and Col du Bonhomee in the Pennine Alps south of MB, Cole de Balme and Col de Ferret int he same chain N of MB; ref The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of ..., Volumes 7-8

The massif can be divided into several areas:

the Domes of Miage and Tré la Tête; the central group, comprising the summit of Mont Blanc itself; the Aiguille Verte, the Drus; the Chamonix Aiguille, from the Aiguille du Midi to the Aiguille de Grand Charmoz; the Grandes Jorasses  ; the Aiguille d'Argentiere.

Plants edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The Mont Blanc Tunnel". Chamonet. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Moran was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "Aiguille du Midi 3842m - Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France". ChamonixNet. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Mont Blanc has shrunk". The Connexion. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Leica Nova MS50 MultiStation delivers first exact 3D scan of the Mont Blanc ice cap" (PDF). Leica Geosystems. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  6. ^ a b Reynaud, Louis (1993). Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G. (eds.). "The French Alps" (PDF). Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. Professional Paper 1386. U.S.Geological Survey. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Nussbaumer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Barbero, Rossana Serandrei; Zanon, Giorgio (1993). Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G. (eds.). "The Italian Alps (in Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World" (PDF). Professional Paper 1386. U.S.Geological Survey. Retrieved 18 January 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Map3531 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Map3630 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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