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Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (French pronunciation: [ʃamɔni mɔ̃ blɑ̃]; Arpitan: Chamôni-Mont-Blanc), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (Chamôni), [a] [b] is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics, held in 1924.
The Aiguille du Midi (French pronunciation: [eɡɥij dy midi], "Needle at midday" [2]) is a 3,842-metre-tall (12,605 ft) mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc. [3]
Mont Blanc as seen from the Chécrouit Lake, Italy. The Mont Blanc was the highest mountain of the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne and the highest mountain of the Holy Roman Empire until 1792. [b] In 1760, Swiss naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure began to go to Chamonix to observe Mont Blanc. [14]
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)).
Les Houches, located 6 kilometres from Chamonix, is a ski resort with a domain which extends from an altitude of 950 metres up to 1900 metres.Long descents through tree-lined slopes are combined with impressive views of the Mont Blanc massif and the Chamonix valley.
It stands at an altitude of 3,835 meters on the snowy ridge of the Aiguille du Goûter (3,863 m), which separates the Val Montjoie from the main basin of the Arve Valley, with the towns of Les Houches and the alpinism and ski resort of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Annecy is 60 kilometers to the west and Lyon nearly 180 kilometers.
While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif, are shared with Switzerland and Italy. At 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), Mont Blanc, on the France–Italy border, is the highest mountain in the Alps, and the highest Western European mountain. [1]
The glacier lies above the Chamonix valley. The pressure within the ice is known to reach at least 30 atmospheres. [3] The Mer de Glace can be considered as originating at an elevation of 2,100 metres (6,900 ft), just north of the Aiguille du Tacul [], where it is formed by the confluence of the Glacier de Leschaux [] and the Glacier du Tacul [].