Jacques Balmat

Jacques Balmat (* 1762 in Chamonix , † 1834 in Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval ) was a Savoyard chamois hunter , crystal seeker , mountaineer and finally a mountain guide .

Balmat, together with the doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard , was the first to climb Mont Blanc on August 8, 1786 . This ascent of the highest peak in the Alps and thus Europe outside the Caucasus (on the border with Asia ) took place at the suggestion of the Geneva researcher Horace-Bénédict de Saussure , who finally showed Balmat the way to the mountain and led him up twice. Other people also made use of his mountain guide services, which was a decisive step in the beginning of alpinism .

Balmat shows Saussure the way to Mont Blanc - statue in Chamonix

Commons : Jacques Balmat - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

personal data
SURNAME	Balmat, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French mountain guide and crystal seeker
DATE OF BIRTH	1762
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chamonix
DATE OF DEATH	1834
Place of death	Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval