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Him and Mt. Blanc/Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco

Mt. Blanc, Mont Blanc and Monte Bianco all refer to the same mountain. It has so many names because of its strategic location. It in France, viewable from Switzerland and forms part of the border with Italy. The French and Italian names mean “white mountain.” Other names for it include La Dame Blance and Il Bianco.

Aosta Valley – From behind the protective tape and snow fence on the slopes

It lies in the Alps between Italy’s Aosta Valley and the Haute-Savoie region of France . The 11.6 km (7.1 mile) Mt. Blanc Tunnel has connected the two since it was built in 1965.

courtesy of http://www.montebianco.com

courtesy of EnlightenedTraveler.co.uk

The trip around the alps is long and so the tunnel was an instant success, becoming one of the major trans-alp transport routes. It costs about $60 roundtrip for a car to use the tunnel. That does not include the fine you will pay if you speed over 70 km/hr or do not leave sufficient distance between you and the car in front of you. They are militant about this safe driving because in 1999 there was a fire in the tunnel that killed 39 people. We felt a bit more at ease traveling through the tunnel knowing that when the tunnel reopened in 2002, it contained additional safety features.

courtesy of railsystem.net

Mt. Blanc’s height is 4,810 m (15, 782 feet) tall. It has year-round snow. Its Bossons glacier comprises the largest ice fall in Europe. It made the news in 2007, when it grew 6 meters!

It is a center for alpine outdoor activities including: skiing, snowboarding, heliskiing, paragliding, snowshoeing, mountain climbing, trekking, hiking, mountain biking and everyone’s favorite pastime of warming themselves in cute cafes. All of this activity is not without danger and Mt. Blanc averages 100 fatalities a year and many more severe injuries. Recently, a Russian couple froze to death while attempting to climb Mt. Blanc, a body was found on a black run (he must have snuck in some night skiing), and an avalanche killed a man. Looking at a video of a Mt. Blanc avalanche on YouTube, helped me to understand their power and danger.

Courmayeur Piste Map courtesy of winter-sports.com

The Aosta Valley, where we spent the weekend, is a paradise for off piste skiing. Some of our group went off piste. Having skied a whopping three times in the last fifteen years, I was happy to stick to the reds.

Please note that these pictures are from the Italian side. Mt. Blanc’s peak is not visible as it is obscured by a lower part of the mountain when viewed from this angle.