Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Guide, crystal hunter and chamois hunter, co-protagonist of the first ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786.
Personal details
Name: Jacques Balmat
Date of birth: 19 January 1762 - Les PĂšlerins, Chamonix
Died: 1834 (month given elsewhere as September, not confirmed by the sources consulted in this revision) â Sixt Valley [discrepancy in sources regarding the location, see editorial note]
Nationality: Savoyard
Occupation: farmer, crystal hunter, chamois hunter and guide
Nickname: Balmat du Mont-Blanc<br>
Biography
Jacques Balmat was born on 19 January 1762 in the village of Les PĂšlerins, in the Chamonix valley, at a time when the territory belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia. He worked as a farmer and roamed the surrounding mountains in search of crystals and whilst hunting chamois: an activity which gave him, even before any professional training for mountain guides existed, first-hand knowledge of the glaciers and slopes of the Mont Blanc massif.
From the second half of the 18th century, the search for a route to the summit of Mont Blanc involved naturalists and valley dwellers: Horace-BĂ©nĂ©dict de Saussure, interested in the scientific study ofhigh mountains, had promised a reward to anyone who could identify a feasible route. Balmat took part in several attempts and, in June 1786, spent a night in the open on the glacier after becoming separated from his companions â anexperience that gave him first-hand insight into the feasibility of staying at high altitude and the layout of the route.
On 8 August 1786, he reached the summit of Mont Blanc together with the doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard. The two set off from the valley without a rope, crampons or modern ice axes, using long wooden poles with metal tips to probe the snow and cross crevasses; Paccard carried instruments intended for scientific observations. The party reached the summit in the late afternoon and remained there for about half an hour before beginning their descent.
Sources differ regarding the reconstruction of their respective roles in the preparation and execution of the ascent, with no single version prevailing on a documented basis:
Verified facts â the two reached the summit together on 8 August 1786, with the equipment and under the circumstances described above.
Conflicting accounts in contemporary and later sources â some accounts published shortly after the expedition attributed the leading role to Balmat, describing Paccard as dependent on his companion during the final stage of the ascent; other accounts, including a document signed by Balmat himself, recognised Paccard as having made a decisive contribution to identifying and following the route. The available documentation does not allow either of the two to be credited with sole priority: both are jointly regarded as the first ascenders.
The following year, Balmat accompanied Horace-Bénédict de Saussure on his ascent of Mont Blanc, which was part of an expedition also dedicated to physical and meteorological measurements. In the years that followed, he continued to visit the massif as an occasional guide, a crystal hunter and an escort to naturalists: sources do not agree on the total number of his ascents of Mont Blanc, with some citing five and others seven (including the first).
He died in 1834, aged 72, whilst searching for a gold deposit: the most widely accepted account attributes his death to a fall down a ravine, with his body never having been recovered. Sources differ as to the exact location â the Sixt Valley according to some, the area north of the BrĂ©vent near Chamonix according to others. His legacy remains linked to the first ascent of Mont Blanc, the early days of professional high-altitude guiding, and the culture of the âcristalliersâ of the Chamonix Valley.
Mountaineering feats
Mont Blanc (4,808 m) - 1786 â first ever ascent, with Michel-Gabriel Paccard
Mont Blanc (4,808m) - 1787 â second ascent, as a guide for Horace-BĂ©nĂ©dict de Saussureâs scientific expedition
Places and commemorations
Balmat-Saussure monument - Chamonix-Mont-Blanc â inaugurated in 1887, commemorating the meeting between Jacques Balmat and Horace-BĂ©nĂ©dict de Saussure
Maison de Jacques Balmat - Les PĂšlerins, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc â a building commemorating the first ascender
Rue Jacques-Balmat - Geneva â a street named after Jacques Balmat
MusĂ©e du Mont-Blanc - Chamonix-Mont-Blanc â houses and displays a walking stick attributed to the first ascent of 1786
Bibliography
As a writer
not applicable: no documented works of his own
As a significant reference
T. Louis Oxley, Jacques Balmat, or The First Ascent of Mont Blanc, Fb&c Ltd (reprint), 1881
Cyril D. Milner, Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles, R. Hale Ltd, 1955
Jean-Pierre Spilmont, Jacques Balmat dit Mont-Blanc, Ăditions GuĂ©rin, 2003