Sep 01 2023
Aiguille Verte Rising above the glaciers and granite towers of the Chamonix Valley, Aiguille Verte is one of the defining mountains of the Mont Blanc massif. Its elegant, snow-covered summit rises to approximately 4,122 meters (13,524 feet), standing dramatically above the Aiguille du Dru and the great glacial basins of Argentière and Talèfre. The mountain’s …
Sep 01 2023
Dôme du Goûter Rising immediately northwest of Mont Blanc, Dôme du Goûter is a broad, heavily glaciated 4,000-meter summit that forms one of the most important landmarks on the normal route to the highest mountain in the Alps. Unlike the dramatic granite spires found elsewhere in the Mont Blanc massif, the Dôme appears as a …
Sep 01 2023
Mont Maudit Rising between Mont Blanc du Tacul and Mont Blanc, Mont Maudit is one of the highest and most consequential summits in the Mont Blanc massif. Its broad northern snowfields form part of the celebrated Trois Monts route to Mont Blanc, while the mountain’s southern side drops away in much steeper rock, ice, and …
Aug 31 2023
Aiguille du Midi Rising almost directly above Chamonix, Aiguille du Midi is one of the most recognizable peaks in the Mont Blanc massif and one of the world’s most extraordinary gateways to the high mountains. Its jagged granite summit reaches approximately 3,842 meters (12,606 feet), nearly 2,800 meters above the streets of Chamonix below. What …
Aug 31 2023
Grandes Jorasses Rising along the border between France and Italy, the Grandes Jorasses form one of the most imposing mountain walls in the entire Alps. Rather than a single pointed summit, the mountain consists of a roughly kilometer-long crest crowned by six major tops, culminating at Pointe Walker, approximately 4,205 meters (13,795 feet) above sea …
Aug 31 2023
Mont Buet Rising to 3,096 meters (10,158 feet) in Haute-Savoie, Mont Buet is one of the most historically important mountains in the French Alps. Although considerably lower than the great 4,000-meter summits of the nearby Mont Blanc massif, Buet played an outsized role in the development of mountaineering, high-altitude science, and early Alpine tourism. The …
Jul 30 2023
Breithorn Breithorn is a prominent 3,780-meter (12,402-foot) mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. Rising high above the upper Lauterbrunnen Valley, it forms part of the rugged alpine divide between the cantons of Bern and Valais and separates the Lauterbrunnental on its northern side from the Lötschental to the south. The mountain is often called …
Jul 30 2023
Mittaghorn (Tachaigne) Mittaghorn is a 3,892-meter (12,769-foot) mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, rising on the border between the cantons of Bern and Valais. It stands near the head of the Lauterbrunnen Valley and above the Lötschental, surrounded by an impressive landscape of high glaciers, sharp ridges and neighboring peaks approaching or exceeding 4,000 …
Feb 05 2023
The blackout curtains in the hotel room did their job, and when I pulled back the shade around 10pm, a solid brick of bright sunlight pierced the pane of thick glass. After a long day of traveling, my body, refreshed by a quick nap after check-in, wanted to move. Luckily, I was in Iceland in …
Feb 28 2022
Sitting in the crystalline waters of the Mediterranean lounges the Italian island of Sardinia. Throughout history, whichever tribe or nation had control of Sardinia was considered a bellwether for the power dynamics of the Mediterranean. One of the things that made Sardinia such a strategic point, aside from its relative size as the second-largest island …
