Mountaineering In 1573 Francesco De Marchi and Francesco Di Domenico ascended Corno Grande, the highest peak in the Apennine Mountains. During the Enlightenment, as a product of the new spirit of curiosity for the natural world, many mountain summits were surmounted for the first time.. In 1741 Richard Pococke and William Windham made a historic visit to Chamonix. In 1757 Swiss scientist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure made the first of several unsuccessful attempts on Mont Blanc in France, finally offering a reward, which was claimed in 1786 by Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard. By the early 19th century many of the alpine
Michel-Gabriel Paccard 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. There is a statue of him in Chamonix. Michel-Gabriel Paccard 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