Mer de Glace, le glacier des démons de Chamonix

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

At the foot of the Mont Blanc massif, the Mer de Glace descends for about seven kilometres. Before the first visitors, the people of the valley did not willingly go onto its glaciers. According to a tradition reported by several sources, a demon inhabited the region, whom Saint Bernard of Menthon had driven as far as the mont Malet, the present Dent du Géant. When the glaciers advanced, the inhabitants saw his handiwork in it and sought God's protection through processions and exorcisms, with no dates in the article read. According to another website, around 1700, during very harsh winters, the glacier threatened to block the Arve valley; the inhabitants performed an ‘exorcism’ of the evil spirits to stop it. In 1741 two Englishmen, Windham and Pocock, visited glaciers of Chamonix then held to be lairs of demons, despite local superstitions; they were the first to describe what they called the sea of ice. Horace-Bénédict de Saussure later recounted having heard as a child that the eternal snows were a curse for the inhabitants' crimes. In 1825 the village of Les Bois was evacuated in front of a wall of ice about 40 m high. The glacier has been retreating since 1826. In 1880 the Grand Hôtel du Montenvers opened; the train arrived in 1908.

Getting there: Site open all year according to the Chamonix tourist office; the glacier is visited from the Montenvers, served by the Montenvers train (the page read gives no further details). The glacier has been retreating since 1826: the present state of the site was not verified. Train prices and timetable not verified: enquire at the tourist office. High mountain: do not venture onto the ice without a guide.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound