Mont Blanc massif The descriptions of their exploits were published across Europe, bringing the mountains of the Mont Blanc range to the attention of a wide audience for the first time. In 1760, Horace-Bénédict de Saussure offered a large financial prize to the first people who successfully ascended Mont Blanc. The summit was finally attained on 8 August 1786 by two Chamonix men, the guide Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel Paccard. The decades that followed saw the gradual opening up of Chamonix to the world, as well as the rest of the Mont Blanc massif. The many published accounts of climbs and impressive
Louis Gabriel Deniéport Louis Gabriel Deniéport Louis Gabriel Deniéport (14 April 1765, Dieppe – 20 October 1805) was a French naval captain who fought in several battles, most notably Trafalgar, at which he was killed commanding the "Achille". Born to hotelier parents on rue de l'oranger in Dieppe, his godfather was Nicolas Boiloy, a businessman in the Saint-Remy parish, and his godmother was the widow Michel Martel, a businesswoman in the parish of Saint-Jacques. Like his brother Jean-Vincent Deniéport, Louis was a brilliant student at the Oratorian school and won the general prize in 1785, though he had to enter the Oratorian house