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© Donald McEeish 



ALMOST A TRAGEDY : ON THE FACE OE A DANGEROUS ICE SLOPE IN THE ALPS 



Among Geneva's many handsome quays, the most famous is the Quai du Mont-Blanc, 

 from which a superb view of the majestic Mont Blanc group of mountains, to the southeast, 

 across the lake, is obtained. The summit of Mont Blanc was reached for the first time on 

 August 8, 1786, by Jacques Balmat, a chamois hunter of Chamonix, who had been spurred to 

 the undertaking by a large reward offered by the famous Geneva naturalist, De Saussure. The 

 elder Dumas, interviewing Balmat nearly 50 years after the event, quotes the mountain-climber 

 as describing his sensations upon achieving the summit: "I was the king of Mont Blanc; ] 

 was the statue of that immense pedestal." 



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