Majestic with its ring of snowy domes, running through it three glaciers among them the famous Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) pierced by granite needles, it tops out at 4,807 m, which makes this the highest European peak. It was conquered in 1786 by a glassmaker in the valley, Jacques Balmat, who was accompanied by a Chamonix Doctor, Michel Gabriel Paccard, all at the instigation of H-b de Saussure. As for women? They are not out of the story and in 1809 Marie Paradis reached the summit