Vallot Refuge & Bivouac (4362m), Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Discover Joseph Vallot

Joseph Vallot was a pioneering high-altitude environmental researcher

Location: Chamonix
Imprint: Updated 13 May 2025

Vallot famously climbed Mont Blanc 34 times and devoted 40 years of his life to studying high mountains before his death in 1925.

This year, Chamonix will celebrate Joseph Vallot and his extraordinary life and work.

His first observatory was built practically at the summit of Mont Blanc, and on his last summit (at aged 70) he bade farewell to Mont Blanc, “to which I have dedicated my life”. One hundred years since his death, he still inspires research at Mont Blanc, and there are a number of events planned in summer 2025 to honour this incredible man's life.

Where and when

19 and 20 July, 2025

The Centre de Recherches sur les Ecosystèmes d'Altitude (CREA Mont-Blanc) is offering two days of activities to rediscover the famous botanist, geologist, meteorologist, and glaciologist who was the first to demonstrate, in 1887, that it was possible to sleep and work on the roof of the Alps. Ask at the tourist office for more information.

14 August, 2025

The Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix is organising a torch-lit tribute as part of their Fête des Guides. Torches will be lit simultaneously at three iconic sites: the Vallot refuge (4,300m), the Balmat lodge (2,500m) and the Grands Mulets refuge (3,100m), and finally in Chamonix at the Place du Triangle du l'Amitié in front of the Maison de la Montagne. From these various sites, scientists and guides will speak about glacier protection.

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