Today, The Grandma has been talkingabout the Montblanc Tunnel that joinsFrance and Italy, and that was openedon a day like today in 1965.
The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a highwaytunnel between France and Italy,under Mont Blanc in the Alps.
It links Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, AostaValley, Italy, via the French Route Nationale 205 and the Italian Traforo T1 (forming the European route E25), in particular the motorways serving Geneva (A40 of France) and Turin (A5 of Italy). The passageway is one of the majortrans-Alpinetransport routes, particularly for Italy, which relies on this tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe. It reduces the route from France to Turin by 50 kilometres and to Milan by 100 km. Northeast of Mont Blanc's summit, the tunnel is about 15 km southwest of the tripoint with Switzerland, near Mont Dolent.
The agreement between France and Italy on building a tunnel was signed in 1949. Two operating companies were founded, each responsible for one half of the tunnel: the French Autoroutes et tunnel du Mont-Blanc (ATMB), founded on 30 April 1958, and the Italian Società italiana per azioni per il Traforo del Monte Bianco (SITMB), founded on 1 September 1957. Drilling began in 1959 and was completed in 1962; the tunnel was opened to traffic on 19 July 1965.
The tunnel is 11.611 km in length, 8.6 m in width, and 4.35 m in height. The passageway is not horizontal, but in a slightly inverted "V", which assists ventilation. The tunnel consists of a single gallery with a two-lane dual direction road. At the time of its construction, it was twice as long as any existing highway tunnel.
The tunnel passes almost exactly under the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. At this spot, it lies 2,480 metres beneath the surface, making it the world's second deepest operational tunnel after the Gotthard Base Tunnel.
The Mont Blanc Tunnel was originally managed by the two building companies. Following a fire in 1999 in which 39 people died, which showed how lack of coordination could hamper the safety of the tunnel, all the operations are managed by a single entity: MBT-EEIG, controlled by both ATMB and SITMB together, through a 50–50 shares distribution.
An alternative route for road traffic between France to Italy is the Fréjus Road Tunnel. Road traffic grew steadily until 1994, even with the opening of the Fréjus tunnel. Since then, the combined traffic volume of the former has remained roughly constant.
The idea of building a tunnel underneath Mont Blanc to avoid the need for long journeys dates back to the nineteenth century during the heyday of the railway. However, the idea did not receive widespread attention until 1907, when Francesco Farinet, a Member of Parliament of the Aosta Valley, advocated constructing of the tunnel.
In 1908, a first design was presented by French engineer Arnold Monod, to much interest from Italian and French politicians.
Due to political turmoil and World War I and World War II, the project did not start until 1959, when excavations on the tunnel officially began. This was preceded by the signing of a national charter for the tunnel construction, ratified by the parliaments of France (1957) and Italy (1954). That same year, the STMB (Société du tunnel du Mont Blanc) was formed, which became ATMB (Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc) in 1996.
In 1962, the French and Italian drilling teams met on 4 August. The opening was successful, with an axis variation of less than 13 centimetres.
The tunnel was inaugurated by the French president, Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat on 16 July 1965.
The tunnel opened to traffic on 19 July. Surveillance cameras were installed in 1978.
Manufacturing is more than just putting parts together. It's coming up with ideas, testing principles and perfecting the engineering, as well as final assembly.
Today, The Grandma has received wonderful news from one of her closest friends,Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who is climbing Monte Rosa, thesecond-highest summit in the Alps, a mount that was first reached on a day like today in 1855.
Monte Rosa, in Italian massiccio del Monte Rosa; in German Monte Rosa-Massiv;in French massif du Mont Rose, is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps.
It is between Italy's (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland's(Valais). Monte Rosa is the second-highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, after Mont Blanc.
The group is on the watershed between central and Southern Europe.
The Monte Rosa massif has four faces. Three are in Italy: the Liskamm heading above the Val de Gressoney; the Valsesian face above Alagna Valsesia at the upper part of the Valle della Sesia; and the steep, big east wall above Macugnaga in the Valle Anzasca. The Swiss north-western face has several glaciers, with one of the largest Alpine glaciers, flowing towards the Mattertal with Zermatt.
Its main summit, named Dufourspitze in honour of the surveyor Guillaume-Henri Dufour and wholly located in Switzerland, culminates at 4,634 m and is followed by the five nearly equally high subsidiary summits of Dunantspitze, Grenzgipfel, Nordend, Zumsteinspitze, and Signalkuppe.
Some other over 4000 m peaks such as Piramide Vincent, Punta Giordani, and Corno Nero are wholly in Italy.
Monte Rosa is the highest mountain of both Switzerland and the Pennine Alps and is also the second-highest mountain of the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus.
The
north-west side of the central Monte Rosa massif, with its enormous ice
slopes and seracs, constitutes the boundary and upper basin of the
large Gorner Glacier, which descends towards Zermatt and merges with its
nowadays much larger tributary, the Grenzgletscher, right below the
Monte Rosa Hut on the lower end of the visible western wing. The
Grenzgletscher is an impressive glacier formation between the western
wing of the mountain and Liskamm, a ridge on its southwestern side on
the Swiss-Italian border.
On
the eastern side, in Italy, the mountain falls away in an almost
vertical 2,400-metre-high wall of granite and ice, the biggest in
Europe, overlooking Macugnaga and several smaller glaciers.
Monte Rosa was studied by pioneering geologists and explorers, including Leonardo da Vinci in the late fifteenth century and Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century.
Following a long series of attempts beginning in the early nineteenth century, Monte Rosa's summit, then still called Höchste Spitze, was first reached in1855 from Zermatt by a party of eight climbers led by three guides. The great east wall was first climbed in 1872, from Macugnaga.
Each
summer many climbers set out from the Monte Rosa Hut on the mountain's
west wing for one of its summits via the normal route or for the
Margherita Hut on the Signalkuppe, in Italian Punta Gnifetti, used as a
research station. Many tourists and hikers also come each year to the
Gornergrat on the north-west side of the massif, to see the panorama that
extends over the giants of the Alps, from Monte Rosa to the Matterhorn.
Though
the Italian Rosa as well as the French Rose both mean pink, the name
is a false cognate derived from the Franco-Provençal Valdôtain patois
word rouése,meaning glacier.
On
old maps as late as 1740, the mountain was named Monte Bosa and even
Monte Biosa by the inhabitants of Val Sesia. The name Mon Boso which
appears in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks very likely designated the same
mountain.
From
Zermatt the mountain was formerly known under the name Gornerhorn. The
name gorner is still used for the western ridge that is thrown out from
the main mass (Gornergrat) and the glacier that lies at its foot
(Gornergletscher) but not used for the mountain itself any more.
Nowadays, in German, the Italian Monte Rosa is used instead (Monte
Rosa-Gletscher or Monte Rosa-Hütte).
Monte Rosa cover areas on both sides of the border between the Swiss canton of Valais and the Italian regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley.
The main summit of Monte Rosa is the Dufourspitze.
On the Swiss side, the town centre of Zermatt is about 13 km south-east and 3,000 m above it.
On the Italian side of the massif are located 9 km north-east Macugnaga in the Valle Anzasca,11 km south-east-south Alagna Valsesia in the Valsesia and 13 km Gressoney-La-Trinité in the Val de Gressoney, respectively, away from the summit. The different sides of the mountain greatly differ from each other.
The Swiss west side is almost completely covered by large glaciers, tributaries of the 57 km2 large Gorner Glacier, descending progressively with gentle slopes and forming a large uninhabited glacial valley. The Italian east side consists of a 2,400-metre-high wall overlooking Macugnaga, whose snows feed the Belvedere Glacier at its base.
The south-east face, culminating at the Signalkuppe, overlooks the piedmontese Valsesia, in Italian Valle della Sesia, and the Val de Gressoney in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley.
The
mountain is mainly covered by eternal snows and glaciers, except for
its summit which is a rocky ridge orientated west–east, near to and
perpendicular to the main watershed between Switzerland and Italy, the
river basins of the Rhône and the Po on the Swiss and Italian side,
respectively.
The
connecting point between them is the Grenzgipfel right on the border,
and therefore also the highest peak on the Italian side. Thus, Monte
Rosa is the highest mountain in the Alps whose summit is not on the main
alpine watershed, although it is off by only 150 metres.
The Silbersattel and Grenzsattel are the passes located north and south to the summit. The three main secondary summits of Monte Rosa are, from north to south: the Nordend (4,609 m; north of the Dufourspitze), the Zumsteinspitze (4,563 m; south of the Dufourspitze) and the Signalkuppe (4,554 m, Italian: Punta Gnifetti), all of them being positioned right on the Swiss-Italian border. Other secondary summits are the Parrotspitze (4,432 m), the Ludwigshöhe (4,341 m) and the Vincentpiramid (4,215 m). All of them originally have German names, since even the Italian valleys used to be by German-based Walsers inhabited valleys.
Several perpendicular secondary ridges are connected to the central massif, dividing the glaciers that descend towards the Matter Valley. The ridge called Weissgrat connecting the Nordend with the Schwarzberghorn, in Italian Corno Nero, presents a wall of formidable precipices towards the east, but falls away in a gentle slope to the west.
For a breadth of a few kilometres the upper snow-fields of the Weissgrat lie almost unbroken upon this slope, but as they begin to descend towards the Matter Valley they are divided into two ice streams, the upper Gorner Glacier and the Findel Glacier, by a ridge which gradually emerges from the névé, and finally presents a rather bold front to the glaciers on either side.
The highest points of this ridge, appearing insignificant by contrast with the grand objects around, is the Stockhorn (3,532 m) and the lower Gornergrat at 3,090 m. On their south sides is the lower Gorner Glacier, formed by the confluence of all the major (Gornergletscher and Grenzgletscher) and minor tributaries descending from the north, west and south sides of the central Monte Rosa massif, while on the north side the Findel Glacier descends near to the hamlet of Findeln.
Monte Rosa is one of the high mountains surrounding the 40-kilometre-long Matter Valley south of Stalden. On the southwest to west are Liskamm, Zwillinge with Castor and Pollux, the Breithorn and the Matterhorn; on the north are the Weisshorn and the Dom.
The Gornergrat summit, lying 8 km on the north-west at 3,100 metres, is a popular viewpoint of the massif, since it is accessible by train from Zermatt, using the highest open air railway line in Europe.
Being the highest point in Switzerland, Monte Rosa is also one of the most extreme places. The average air pressure is about half of that of the sea level (56%) and the temperature can reach as low as −40 °C.
Owing to the frequent prevalence of a high wind from the east or north-east, and the slow pace at which it is possible to move when near the top, precautions against cold are particularly requisite when climbing Monte Rosa. The snow line is located at about 3,000 m.
The Monte Rosa tour can be completed by trekkers in about 10 days. The circuit follows many ancient trails that have linked the Swiss and Italian valleys for centuries. The circuit includes larch forests, alpine meadows, balcony trails and a glacial crossing.
It connects seven valleys embracing different cultures: the German-speaking high Valais, the Arpitan speaking Aosta Valley and the valleys of Lombardy and Piedmont.
There's no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It's experiencing the climb itself -in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue- that has to be the goal.
Today, The Grandma is still enjoying the visit of JosephdeCa'th Lon, one of her closest friends. They have been talking about climbing and mountains and, especially, about MontBlanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, that was climbed for the first time by JacquesBalmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard on a day like today in 1786.
Mont Blanc in French, MonteBianco in Italian is the second-highestmountain in Europe after Mount Elbrus. It is the highestmountainin the Alps, rising 4,808 m above sea level. It is the eleventh-most prominent peak in the world.
The mountain stands in a range called the Graian Alps, between theregions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France.
The location of the summit is on the watershed line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France, on the border between the two countries.
The Mont Blanc massif is popular for outdoor activities like hiking, climbing, trail running and winter sports like skiing, and snowboarding. The most popular route 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 Mont Blanc Tunnel, constructed between 1957 and 1965, runs beneath the mountain and is a
major trans-Alpine transport route.
Since 1760 Swiss naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure began to go to Chamonix to observe Mont Blanc. He tried with the Courmayeur mountain guide Jean-Laurent Jordaney, native of Pré-Saint-Didier, who accompanied De Saussure since 1774 on the Miage Glacier and on mont Crammont.
The first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc, at the time neither within Italy nor France, was on 8 August 1786 by Jacques Balmat and the doctorMichel Paccard.
This climb, initiated by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who gave a reward for the
successful ascent, traditionally marks the start of modern
mountaineering.
The first woman to reach the summit was Marie Paradis in
1808.
Joseph de Ca'th Lon climbs Mont Blanc
Nowadays the summit is ascended by an average of 20,000 mountaineer-tourists each year. It could be considered a technically easy, yet arduous, ascent for someone who is well-trained and acclimatized to the altitude.
From l'Aiguille du Midi,where the cable car stops, MontBlanc seems quite close, being 1,000 m higher. But while the peak seems deceptively close, La Voie des 3 Monts route, known to be more technical and challenging than other more commonly used routes, requires much ascent over two other 4,000 m mountains, MontBlanc du Tacul and Mont Maudit, before the final section of the climb is reached and the last 1,000 m push to the summit is undertaken.
Each year climbing deaths occur on Mont Blanc, and on the busiest weekends, normally around August, the local rescue service performs an average of 12 missions, mostly directed to aid people in trouble on one of the normal routes of the mountain.
Some routes require knowledge of high-altitude mountaineering, a guide or at least an experienced mountaineer, and all require proper equipment.
All routes are long and arduous, involving delicate passages and the hazard of rock-fall or avalanche.
Climbers may also suffer altitude sickness, occasionally life threatening, particularly if they do not acclimatize to it.
Jacques Balmat, called Balmat du Mont Blanc (1762–1834) was amountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, born in the Chamonix valleyinSavoy, at this time part of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
A chamois hunter and collector of crystals, Balmat completed the first ascent of Mont Blanc with physician Michel-Gabriel Paccard on 8 August 1786.
For this feat, King Victor Amadeus III gave him the honorary title du Mont Blanc.
Balmat and Paccard's ascent of Mont Blanc was a major accomplishment in the early history of mountaineering. C. Douglas Milner wrote The ascent itselfwasmagnificent; an amazing feat of endurance and sustained courage, carriedthrough by these two men only, unroped and without ice axes, heavily burdened with scientific equipment and with long iron-pointed batons. The fortunate weather and a moon alone ensured their return alive.
Jacques Balmat
Eric Shipton wrote Theirs was an astounding achievement of courage and determination, oneof the greatest in the annals of mountaineering. It was accomplished by men who were not only on unexplored ground but on a route that all theguidesbelieved to be impossible.
Gaston Rébuffat praised Balmat's climbing abilities, describing him as This man, robust, resolute, this crystal hunter who, as it turns out, possesses an extraordinary mountaineering sense, an unerring instinct for the crevasses and seracs of the glaciers...
After the successful ascent, Balmat collected the reward offered 25 years before by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure to the first man who could climb MontBlanc. On 3 August 1787 he assisted de Saussure himself to reach the summit with a party of about 17 people.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Savoy fell under French control, and Citizen Jacques Balmat became a member of the council of the commune. He led an unsuccessful attempt to introduce Merino sheep into the Chamonix valley.
Balmat was criticized for his autobiographical account of the climb, later published in English as Jacques Balmat, or The First Ascent of Mont Blanc,since his account downplayed the role of Dr. Paccard.
Milner describes Balmat's story as cloudily romantic and largely fictional and quotes four analysts of mountaineering history who discovered errors in Balmat's version of events.
Shipton describes Balmat as boastful and conceited and that in character, hewas both vain and mean. Success went to his head, and he soon began toamplify his part in the exploit.
Balmat died by falling off a cliff while prospecting for gold in the Sixt valley in 1834.
Michel Gabriel Paccard (1757–1827) was a Savoyard doctor and alpinist, citizen of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Born in Chamonix, he studied medicine in Turin. Due to his passion for botany and minerals, he met Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who initiated the race to be the first to ascend Mont Blanc.
Michel Gabriel Paccard
Gaston Rébuffat wrote Like Saussure a devotee of the natural sciences, he has a dream: to
carry a barometer to the summit and take a reading there. An excellent
mountaineer, he has already made several attempts.
Paccard had a first, unsuccessful, attempt in 1783 with Marc Theodore Bourrit.
In 1784, he made several attempts with JacquesBalmat before they made the first ascent of MontBlanc together on 8 August 1786.
Balmat and Paccard's ascent of Mont Blanc was a major accomplishment in the early history of mountaineering.
C. Douglas Milner wrote The ascent itself was magnificent; an amazing feat of endurance and sustained courage, carried through by these two men only, unroped and without ice axes, heavily burdened with scientific equipment and with long iron-pointed batons. The fortunate weather and a moon alone ensured their return alive.
Eric Shipton wrote Theirs was an astounding achievement of courage and determination, one of the greatest in the annals of mountaineering. It was accomplished by men who were not only on unexplored ground but on a route that all the guides believed to be impossible.
Paccard later married Jacques Balmat's sister, and became a justice of the peace.
.webp)
