The First Tour du Mont Blanc?

by Simon Cane

I stepped to one side on the narrow rocky path to let a party of babbling Italian walkers go past, followed by two weary trekkers with huge rucksacks. Down by the refuge red kit bags were being loaded onto the backs of two pack horses belonging to a group of French hikers tackling the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) in the opposite direction. This must be one of the busiest of the many European long distance paths which made me think - who started all this?

In the mid eighteenth century a teenager living in Geneva was fascinated by mountains. By the age of 18 in 1758 he had already walked many of the mountains close to Geneva; in 1760 he visited Chamonix and its glaciers for the first time, and so began a lifelong fascination with Mont Blanc. His name? Horace-Benedict de Saussure.

“…to get an overview it is not sufficient to stick to the main routes, that almost always wind along the valley bottoms and cross the mountain chains by the lowest passes; you must leave the beaten path and climb the elevated summits from which one can see a multitude of things. I admit these excursions are difficult: you have to abandon the coach and the horse, suffer great weariness, and sometimes expose yourself to significant dangers…” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 1, Ch VII

De Saussure is a familiar name to most alpinists as the man who offered a reward for the first person to climb Mont Blanc, and who became the third person on the summit himself in 1787, a year after the successful first ascent by Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel Paccard. Less well known is the fact that he completed the tour of the Mont Blanc massif, not once, but three times; in 1767, 1774 and 1778.

By the time he embarked on these tours his early studies in biology had developed into an interest in geology. He was interested in the overall formation of the rocks, and felt that mountain areas, with their sheer rock walls and deep ravines, revealed more of the structure of the earth than the plains - where you would have to dig deep in order to investigate the rock layers. From 1760 onwards he returned to the Alps each year to walk or travel different routes to study the mountains. By 1779 he had enough material to publish the first of four volumes describing his explorations and findings under the general title of ‘Voyages dans les Alpes’.

Chamonix “The first known foreigners, drawn by curiosity to Chamonix to view the glaciers, must have thought the valley to be a bandit’s hideout, as they came armed to the teeth. They were accompanied by a number of equally armed servants, and, not daring to enter any houses, camped with the tents they had brought and kept their fires burning and mounted guard the whole night. It was in 1741 that the celebrated traveller Pocock, and another English gentleman, Windham, made this interesting journey. The older inhabitants of Chamonix remember their visit, and still laugh at the fears of these travellers and their useless precautions.” “In the 20 or 25 years that followed this first visit there were few visitors, mostly English who stayed with the curate. When I visited in 1760, and even four or five years later, there was nowhere to stay, just one or two miserable huts similar to those one finds in less frequented villages. Since then travelling here has gradually become fashionable, such that the three large and good auberges that have been established can hardly cope with the tourists from all over the world that come in summer.” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 2, Ch XXIV

The second part of the first volume is entitled ‘Voyage Autour du Mont Blanc’ - yes that’s the TMB to you and me, but not quite the route taken today! First of all, he began in his home town of Geneva, progressed to Chamonix (with diversions onto the glaciers of le Buet and the Mer de Glace), then to St Gervais, les Contamines, Col de Bonhomme, Col de la Seigne to Courmayeur. From Courmayeur he went via Aosta and the Grand St Bernard pass back to Geneva. Admittedly he did not do this all on foot - only when it was impossible for a wagon or mule to proceed did his feet touch the ground.

His comments make an interesting comparison with the conditions today when hundreds of hikers travel these routes each week in summer. It was a time when few people apart from shepherds, muleteers and chamois hunters went into the mountains. However, de Saussure was part of the beginning of not just scientific interest in the area, but also for the landscape - encouraged by the publication of his four volumes, and the non-scientific summary published in 1834. These extracts illustrate some of the changes in the last 230 years, but some may also be recognisable to those who walk the TMB today.

At the time the inhabited areas, in the valleys, were sparsely populated. The higher areas were scarcely visited except for hunting and mineral collecting. There were no buildings outside the villages and valley areas, except perhaps for the odd shepherd’s summer shelter. There were no facilities for visitors in the villages, let alone in the mountains. Trails were certainly not waymarked!

Col de Bonhomme “The beginning (of the climb) is not that easy, at least for the mules; the track continually crosses over bare rock, hard and polished by usage. In the four times I have done the Bon-homme I have twice seen a mule fall down, thus I would recommend a traveller here to proceed on foot.” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 2, Ch XIX

De Saussure was visiting the Alps at a time when the glaciers were close to their maximum extent since the Ice Age (and local farmers were worried about their fields being engulfed by ice). He devoted his life to scientific experiments in the mountains, measuring relative humidity, solar radiation and composition of the air. Among other things he invented a solar oven in 1767. Little could he have imagined the number of walkers treading (approximately) in his footsteps today.

L’Allee-Blanche (Val Veny) “The steep descent, which crosses the snow, is hard for the loaded mules, the muleteers are obliged to hold them back by their tails with all their strength to prevent them slipping” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 2, Ch XXX

Col de Bonhomme “Arriving on the col one thinks one is at the highest point, but what is to come next is the most dangerous: in truth there is not much more climbing, but it is necessary to traverse an extremely steep slope which hangs over a precipice. When it is covered in snow, which I have found even in July, one knows very well not to be caught out by bad weather. When we crossed in 1778 there was almost no more snow, but we nearly lost our mule with the baggage. It slipped on a flat rock, fell, rolled three times to the edge of the precipice, and would have rolled a fourth time, which would havebeen the last, had it not been for the muleteer, as strong as he was brave, who launched himself at the mule, and held it back by the tail at the risk of being pulled down the precipice. We went to his aid, removed the baggage from the mule, and had difficulty in restoring it on all four legs.” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 2, XXVI

Col de la Seigne “It is necessary to have a guide because the cattle make trails that strongly resemble the main path, that you need to pass this way every day to make the distinction. As we couldn’t find anyone in the village of Glacier with the time to guide us we asked a shepherd we met to be our guide, and he agreed. I was so pleased to have employed him when, starting to walk, I noticed him limping so badly that I could not see how he would do the climb we had to do, but he said to me that he was sure, lame though he was, we would have difficulty to follow him. In effect, he was always ahead, and often had to wait for us.” Voyages dans les Alpes Vol 2, Ch XXIX

Was he the first to complete a TMB? Possibly, but competition is provided by Marc-Theodore Bourrit (1739–1819) who was exploring the Alps in the same period and met de Saussure on several occasions. But that is another story………

1786 map of the Mont Blanc Massif accompanying the Saussure book.

Drawing of the Val Veny by M T Bourrit

Return to the top of this page, or to the complete Index, or to this section's Index.