MONT BLANC 211 



minor but appreciable risk from ice avalanches falling from the 

 Dome. 



At this point another leading character in the drama of Mont 

 Blanc comes on the stage. Jacques Balmat was a young man 

 of twenty-four who owned a cottage near the Glacier des Bossons. 

 He was apparently not on very good terms with the men of the 

 chief hamlet, Le Prieure, who usually served as guides. He had 

 joined the Cote party uninvited, and his companions looked 

 somewhat askance on the intruder. On the return he separated 

 from them near the Grand Plateau under pretence of looking for 

 crystals. Towards evening clouds and darkness overtook him, 

 and, no longer able to follow his companions' track, he resolved to 

 spend the night as best he could in the snow. Daylight found 

 him not seriously the worse, and, the weather having recovered, 

 he spent the morning in examining the possible accesses to the 

 summit, which rose some 3500 feet immediately above him. 

 Having satisfied himself that he had discovered a possible route, 

 he returned without accident to the valley. His first idea was to 

 keep his discovery secret, probably with the very legitimate 

 intention of entering into communication with de Saussure and 

 selling it in the best market. But circumstances compelled him 

 to a different line of action. De Saussure and Bourrit were not the 

 only competitors in the field. There was another and, inasmuch 

 as he was actually on the spot and a born mountaineer, a more 

 dangerous one. Balmat learned that Dr. Paccard had an early 

 attempt on the mountain in view. He grasped the situation ; 

 his object was not only to climb Mont Blanc, but to be able to 

 produce decisive evidence to his success. He recognised that as 

 a companion Paccard would be an excellent witness, while at 

 the same time he might be trusted not to make any claim to 

 a share in the promised reward. Accordingly, Balmat made 

 haste to come to an understanding with the Doctor. Bad weather 

 delayed their start for three weeks, but on the 7th August they 

 slipped away separately from the valley and climbed to the 

 familiar bivouac on the top of the Montagne de la Cote. On 

 the following day, at 6.25 in the evening, after a climb of fourteen 

 and a half hours, they stood together on the top of Mont Blanc. 

 The conquest of the great mountain was achieved. Balmat 

 before starting had asked a friend to look out for him on the 



