Air India Flight 101

The Bossons Glacier is one of the larger glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif of the Alps, found in the Chamonix valley of Haute-Savoie département, south-eastern France. It is fed from icefields lying on the northern side of Mont Blanc, and descends down close to the Aiguille du Midi and ends on the southern side of the Arve valley, close to the town of Chamonix. It has the largest altitudinal drop of all the alpine glaciers in Europe, and formerly extended much further down the valley than it does today. It is now approximately 7.5 km long, with a surface area of approximately 10 km². In the 17th century the Bossons glacier extended right down into Chamonix, reaching the settlement of Le Fouly, engulfing farmland, barns and houses. Local bishops were called upon to exorcise the demons within the glacier. In 1777 the traveller and correspondent, William Coxe, observed in his letters that "we mounted by the side of the glacier of Bosson, to les Murailles de Glace, so called from their resemblance to walls: they form the large ranges of ice of prodigious thickness and solidity, rising abruptly and parallel to each other. Some of these ranges appeared about a hundred feet high. Near them were pyramids and cone of ice of all forms and sizes, shooting to a very considerable height, in the most beautiful and fantastic shapes." He then noted that, on his return in 1785, "these murailles de glace no longer existed".: 781  By around 1784 the glacier had started to retreat, although there was a renewed surge around 1815 and the frightened community erected a cross in front of its snout, which served as a marker for glacial retreat for the next 100 years.In 1900 the snout of the glacier was still reaching down into the valley bottom at an altitude of 1,050 metres above sea level. By 1980 the snout only reached down to about 1,200 metres, and by 2008 it had melted backwards even further backwards, ended at around 1,400 metres, albeit still well below the treeline. A series of paintings from the early 19th century and modern day photographs reveal the extent of the glacier's recession as the climate has warmed, as well as revealing evidence of glacial moraines showing its past extent down to the valley bottom.

The Grands Mulets Hut (French: Refuge des Grands Mulets) is a mountain refuge in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps at an altitude of 3,051 m. It is owned by the Club Alpin Francais. The hut is located on a pyramidal rock island, at the junction of two streams of the Bossons Glacier on the north side of Mont Blanc. If the state of the glacier is not too severe, the hut is wardened in summer and can be used as an alternative route of ascent to the summit of Mont Blanc, following the original historic route by the first ascensionists. Nowadays the hut is used more frequently by ski-mountaineers in spring, or as a more sheltered and alternative route of descent from Mont Blanc than the much more popular Goûter route, though route-finding can be difficult in fog and requires prior knowledge of the crevassed state of the Bossons glacier below the hut.: 23 : 269 The first Grands Mulets hut was built in 1853, then replaced in 1896. The current refuge was built in 1960 and inaugurated on August 7 by Maurice Herzog.

The Cosmiques Hut (French: Refuge des Cosmiques) is a mountain hut in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps at an altitude of 3,613 m (11,854 ft). It is a large structure capable of accommodating 148 mountaineers. It was constructed in 1990 on a rock promontory situated between the Col du Midi and the base of the Cosmiques Arête which descends southwards from the Aiguille du Midi. It gives access to a number of classic alpine mountaineering routes, and has proved to be extremely popular with mountaineers, so much so that in the summer months prior booking a few days beforehand is essential in order to secure a bed. The Hut is wardened between mid-February and mid-October. In winter the nearby Abri Simond Hut is left unlocked, although this has no cooking facilities, heating or water.

The Aiguille du Midi (French pronunciation: ​[eɡɥij dy midi]) is a 3,842-metre-tall (12,605 ft) mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.

On 24 March 1999, a transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy. When it stopped halfway through the tunnel, it violently combusted. Other vehicles traveling through the tunnel quickly became trapped and they also caught fire as firefighters were unable to reach the transport truck. 39 people were killed. In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety.

Mont Blanc du Tacul (4,248 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps situated midway between the Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc. The official first ascent of Mont Blanc du Tacul was by a guideless party comprising Charles Hudson, Edward John Stevenson, Christopher and James Grenville Smith, E. S. Kennedy, Charles Ainslie and G. C. Joad on 8 August 1855. However, Courmayeur guides may have already ascended the peak during their attempts in 1854 and 1855 to force a way up Mont Blanc from the Italian side.

Pointe Lachenal is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is located above the Glacier du Géant, under the East face of Mont Blanc du Tacul and opposite the Aiguille du Midi.The mountain is a mix of snow and rock, and has many rock climbing routes. Popular alpine tours such as the north face climb of Mont-Blanc lead over the crest of the Pointe Lachenal. It was named after French alpinist and guide Louis Lachenal (1921-1955).In the Annapurna Massif we find the mountain Lachenal Peak (7.140 m), also named after the same guide..

Mont Maudit (4,465 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy. The French name literally means "Cursed Mountain". Until the end of the 18th century, Mont Blanc and its satellite peaks were collectively known in French as the Montagne Maudite.

The Tremplin Olympique du Mont (English: Olympic jumping hill of Le Mont) was a ski jumping venue constructed for the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France.

The Refuge du Plan de l'Aiguille is a refuge in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps.

The Aiguilles du Diable (literally "Devil's Needles", German: Teufelsspitzen) are a group of five rock needles, all over 4,000 metres high, on the southeast arête (also called the Teufelsgrat or Devil's Ridge) of the Mont Blanc du Tacul. The pinnacles lie within the French part of the Mont Blanc Massif in the departement of Haute-Savoie. The highest needle is L’Isolée (4,114 m), followed by Pointe Carmen (4,109 m), Pointe Médiane (4,097 m), Pointe Chaubert (4,074 m) and Corne du Diable (4,064 m). The first needle to be climbed was Pointe Carmen in 1923 which was conquered by Brégault, Chevalier and De Lépiney. In 1925 the others were first climbed: initially L’Isolée by Antoine Blanchet and Armand Charlet, then Corne du Diable and Pointe Chaubert by Armand Charlet and Jean Chaubert. The last to be ascended was Pointe Médiane by Antoine Blanchet, Jean Chaubert, Armand Charlet and Devouassoud. The first time all the needles were climbed in a single expedition was in 1928 by the Americans, Miriam O'Brien and Robert L. M. Underhill with Armand Charlet guiding them. Today a crossing of the Aiguilles du Diable is usually done as a rock climbing tour, which, in summer, avoids almost any contact with snow. The overall difficulty is assessed as "difficult" on the SAC scale and climbing grade V+ on the UIAA scale.

The Piste de Bobsleigh des Pellerins (Pellerins Bobsleigh Track in (in French)) was a bobsleigh track constructed for the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France.