Michel-Gabriel Paccard 1784, he made several attempts with Jacques Balmat before they made the first ascent of Mont Blanc 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
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