1986 bronze statue of Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard, first person to climb Mont Blanc. Chamonix, France, Europe.

1986 bronze statue commemorating Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard, the first person to reach the summit of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian). In 1760, Horace Bénédict de Saussure offered a financial reward to anyone who could complete the first ascent of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian). Saussure was a Genevan Aristocrat, Geologist, Physicist and Alpine traveller. After several unsuccessful attempts, on 8 August 1786 the reward was claimed by two local Chamonix men, Jacques Balmat, a Chamois hunter and crystal collector, and Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard, a Chamonix doctor. In 1787, a year after the first ascent, Saussure accompanied by a party of 18 servants and guides also reached the summit where he conducted a number of scientific experiments. A bronze stature of Balmat and his financier Saussure was erected in the town’s main square in 1887 to commemorate the centenary of the first ascent, but bad press caused Paccard to be omitted from the statue. Not until 1986 was this bronze statue erected to commemorate Dr Paccard, located one city block behind the 1887 statue.

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Contained in galleries: TMB | Tour du Mont Blanc (FRANCE, ITALY, SWITZERLAND), 2022 Alps favorites: TMB, Via Alpina, Saas Fee, Haute Route: Chamonix to Zermatt, SWITZERLAND+FRANCE, ALPS: favorites (FRANCE, ITALY, SLOVENIA, SWITZERLAND), 2022 Alps: all TMB, Via Alpina, Saas Fee, Highlights 2022

1986 bronze statue commemorating Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard, the first person to reach the summit of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian). In 1760, Horace Bénédict de Saussure offered a financial reward to anyone who could complete the first ascent of Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian). Saussure was a Genevan Aristocrat, Geologist, Physicist and Alpine traveller. After several unsuccessful attempts, on 8 August 1786 the reward was claimed by two local Chamonix men, Jacques Balmat, a Chamois hunter and crystal collector, and Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard, a Chamonix doctor. In 1787, a year after the first ascent, Saussure accompanied by a party of 18 servants and guides also reached the summit where he conducted a number of scientific experiments. A bronze stature of Balmat and his financier Saussure was erected in the town’s main square in 1887 to commemorate the centenary of the first ascent, but bad press caused Paccard to be omitted from the statue. Not until 1986 was this bronze statue erected to commemorate Dr Paccard, located one city block behind the 1887 statue.