Michel Paccard

The tribute to Michel Paccard, in Chamonix

Michel-Gabriel Paccard, a doctor born in Chamonix, was one of the two first men to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. The Chamonix audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this child of the town, a pioneer of the conquest of the highest summit of the Alps.

Doctor Paccard, conqueror of Mont Blanc

The town of Chamonix pays tribute to Doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard, one of its most illustrious children. Born in Chamonix in 1757, at the time when the valley belonged to the Duchy of Savoy, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, he studied medicine in Turin, then the Sardinian capital. But it is through mountaineering that he entered history: on 8 August 1786, accompanied by the crystal hunter Jacques Balmat, he made the very first ascent of Mont Blanc, an exploit considered as the birth certificate of mountaineering. A doctor and man of science, passionate about the mountain, Paccard embodies the audacity and the curiosity of the pioneers. Although the statue most often evoked represents Balmat and Saussure, the town has not failed to also pay tribute to Doctor Paccard, an essential figure of the conquest of Mont Blanc.

What to see

Here you pay tribute to Doctor Michel-Gabriel Paccard, born in Chamonix in 1757 and trained in Turin, who made with Jacques Balmat the very first ascent of Mont Blanc on 8 August 1786, the birth certificate of mountaineering. The tribute to Michel Paccard celebrates a pioneer and child of Chamonix. It is a stop for those curious about history, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The tribute to Michel Paccard is discovered in the heart of Chamonix, where a street also bears his name, reachable on foot. It is an open-air place of memory, freely accessible from the public space. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

Who was Michel Paccard in Chamonix?

A doctor born in Chamonix in 1757, who made with Jacques Balmat the very first ascent of Mont Blanc on 8 August 1786, an exploit considered as the birth certificate of mountaineering.

Where to pay tribute to Michel Paccard in Chamonix?

In the heart of Chamonix, where a street bears his name, in France.