Mont Blanc massif

The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif, are shared with Switzerland and Italy. At 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), Mont Blanc (Italian: Monte Bianco), on the France–Italy border, is the highest mountain in the Alps, and the highest Western European mountain.Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble, Chamonix, Annecy, Chambéry, Évian-les-Bains and Albertville.

The Western Alps are the western part of the Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzerland (e.g. Valais). In the southeast the range is bounded by the Italian Padan Plain. In the west, the valley of the Rhone river separates it from the Massif Central. The northernmost part of the Western Alps - in the wide meaning of the term - is formed by the Swiss Prealps Sub-Range. The peaks and mountain passes are higher compared to the Eastern Alps, while the range itself is not so broad and more arched.

Mont Blanc (French: Mont Blanc [mɔ̃ blɑ̃]; Italian: Monte Bianco [ˈmonte ˈbjaŋko], both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, and the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus mountains, rising 4,807.81 m (15,774 ft) above sea level, located on the French-Italian border. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and it is the eleventh most prominent mountain summit in the world.It gives its name to the Mont Blanc massif, which straddles parts of France, Italy and Switzerland. Mont Blanc's summit lies on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy, and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France. Ownership of the summit area has long been disputed between France and Italy. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for outdoor activities like hiking, climbing, trail running and winter sports like skiing, and snowboarding. The most popular climbing route to the summit of Mont Blanc is the Goûter Route, which typically takes two days. The three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy; and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. The latter town was the site of the first Winter Olympics. A cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix through the Col du Géant. The 11.6 km (7+1⁄4 mi) Mont Blanc Tunnel, constructed between 1957 and 1965, runs beneath the mountain and is a major transalpine transport route.

Air India Flight 245 was a scheduled Air India passenger flight from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva. On the morning of 3 November 1950, the Lockheed L-749A Constellation serving the flight crashed into Mont Blanc, France, while approaching Geneva. All 48 aboard were killed. The plane operating the flight was a named Malabar Princess, registered VT-CQP. It was piloted by Captain Alan R. Saint, 34, and co-pilot V. Y. Korgaokar and was carrying 40 passengers and 8 crew. While over France, descending towards Geneva Airport, the flight crashed into the French Alps in stormy weather, killing all on board.

The Rocher de la Tournette (or, simply, 'La Tournette') is a prominent rocky point on the icy summit ridge of Mont Blanc between the Petite Bosse and the summit. The highest point lies at 4,677 metres (15,344 ft) above sea level, and can be most easily reached on an ascent of Mont Blanc via the Goûter Route. Whilst not sufficiently isolated from other summits to be regarded by the UIAA as one of the 82 primary 4000 metre summits of the Alps, the organisation does nevertheless include Rocher de la Tournette on its 'Enlarged list of lesser summits'. This list defines a further 46 such points of secondary mountaineering or morphological interest, of which the Rocher de la Tournette is the highest.The shoulder of this rocky subsidiary summit offers a remote mountaineering route from the Quintino Sella Hut. Known as the Tournette Spur (fr: l’éperon de la Tournette), it enables the final 'Bosses Ridge' section of the Goûter Route to be reached from the Italian side of Mont Blanc. This infrequently climbed route is nowadays graded AD on the adjectival climbing scale and was first climbed on 2 July 1872 by T Kennedy, J Carrel and J Fischer. The first winter ascent of the Tournette Spur was made by the three Sella brothers and their guides, including Emile Rey on 5 January 1888.: 58 

Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (French: [mɔ̃ blɑ̃ də kuʁmajœʁ]; Italian: Monte Bianco di Courmayeur) is a point (4,748 m (15,577 ft)) on the south-east ridge of Mont Blanc that forms the peak of the massive south-east face of the mountain. It is connected to the main summit via the Col Major (c. 4,730 m (15,520 ft)). Despite its minimal topographic prominence, it appears as the second-highest peak in the Alps on the official list of Alpine four-thousanders of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) for its impressive appearance and its importance for mountaineering.The peak can be reached from the main summit over the Bosses ridge. The ascents over the south-east / Peuterey and south / Brouillard ridges are very challenging. The summit of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur is marked as lying entirely within Italy on the Italian Istituto Geografico Militare (IGM) map, while on the French Institut Géographique National (IGN) map the summit lies on the border between France and Italy. A demarcation agreement, signed on 7 March 1861, defines the local border between France and Italy. Currently this act and the attached maps (showing the border on the top of Mont Blanc, 4810 m) are legally valid for both the French and Italian governments.

Pic Luigi Amedeo (Italian: Picco Luigi Amedeo, French: Pointe Louis-Amédée) (4,460 metres (14,630 ft)) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Aosta Valley, Italy. It lies on the Brouillard ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc, and is only reachable via an ascent of that ridge.: 207 The mountain is named after Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, after whom the Abruzzi Spur on K2 is also named. The first ascent of the peak was by G.B. and G.F. Gugliermina with the Aostan guide Joseph Brocherel on 20 July 1901. The first ascent of the entire Brouillard ridge including Pic Luigi Amedeo was by Karl Blodig, Humphrey Owen Jones, Geoffrey Winthrop Young with the guide Josef Knubel of St. Niklaus in the canton Valais on 9 August 1911.

The Vallot Hut (French: Refuge Vallot) is a refuge in the Mont Blanc massif on the upper slopes of Mont Blanc in the Alps. It is located below the Bosses Ridge between the Dome du Gouter and Mont Blanc summit, at an altitude of 4,362 metres. Intended only as an emergency shelter, and not as a base for ascending Mont Blanc, this unheated duralumin box was designed to accommodate up to 12 people, but often contains considerably more.

Pic Eccles (4,041 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Aosta Valley, Italy. It lies at the foot of the Innominata ridge to the summit of Mont Blanc. The mountain is named after the English mountaineer and geologist James Eccles. Although the mountain was probably climbed on 31 August 1874 by J. G. A. Marshal with guides Johann Fisher and Ulrich Almer, the first certain ascent was on 30–31 August 1877 by James Eccles with guides Alphonse and Michel Payot during the first ascent of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur.

The Grand Pilier d'Angle (4,243 m) is a buttress on the southern side of Mont Blanc in the Mont Blanc massif in the Aosta Valley, Italy. The first ascent from the valley was by James Eccles with guides Michel Payot and Alphonse Payot on 30 July 1877 during an ascent of the Peuterey ridge, although the summit had been visited on 20 August 1822 by F. Clissold with guides J. M. Couttet, M. Bossonney, D. Couttet, P. Favret and J. B. Simond on the descent from their first ascent of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur. The first ascent of the pillar (the north-east face) itself was by Walter Bonatti and Toni Gobbi on 3 August 1957. Bonatti said after the climb that "the mixed terrain of the face was without doubt the most sombre, the most savage and the most dangerous of any that I have ever encountered in the Alps." The first winter ascent of the Bonatti-Gobbi route was by A. Dworak, J. Kurczab, A. Mróz and T. Piotrowski between 5 and 9 March 1971. The first solo ascent of the route was by Nicolas Jaeger on 3 August 1975. Other well-known routes on the face include the Cecchinel-Nominé (Walter Cecchinel and Georges Nominé, 17 September 1971; the Boivin-Vallençant of 1975 adds a direct finish to this route) and Divine Providence (Patrick Gabarrou and François Marsigny, 5–7 June 1984). The first solo ascent of this route was by Jean-Christophe Lafaille in 1990, who said, "This route is the most difficult and involving in the whole of the Mont Blanc massif."

Mont Brouillard (4,069 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the Val d'Aosta, Italy, being a satellite peak on the south ridge of Mont Blanc.

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.