Courmayeur · Italy
Mont Blanc at dusk
From here, as the light falls, the massif can be seen entire. And it is worth knowing that the summit, above all the rest, is disputed. France and Italy have never entirely agreed on where the border runs across the top of Mont Blanc. The treaty of 1861 was interpreted differently on each side, and French and Italian maps still draw lines that do not coincide. It is not a controversy that produces diplomatic incidents: it is a cartographic discrepancy nobody is in a hurry to resolve. Two states, the highest mountain in western Europe, and a courteous disagreement a hundred and sixty years long.
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Who does it belong to?
It depends which map you look at. For Italy the summit is shared between the two states; for France the main summit is entirely French. Neither position has been dropped.
Why the dispute?
From an 1861 text and the maps attached to it, which described the border in loose terms and were drawn differently. One ambiguous sentence in a treaty can outlive a century.
Which side is harder to climb?
The Italian side is steeper and more exposed: routes from here are technically harder. The French normal route is longer but less difficult, and it is the one almost everyone uses.
Where it is
More stories in Courmayeur
- The Aiguille Blanche
- The Aiguille Noire
- Duke of the Abruzzi Alpine Museum
- The Brenva Spur
- The Guides' House
- Church of Saint Pantaléon
- The quiet col
- The Col de la Seigne