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Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey
Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey
	The north face of the Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey with its three summits, seen from the Pointe Helbronner
Highest point
Elevation	4,112 m (13,491 ft)
Coordinates	45°49′28″N 6°52′58″E / 45.82444°N 6.88278°E
Geography
	Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey Aosta Valley, Italy
Parent range	Graian Alps
Geology
Mountain type	Granite
Climbing
First ascent	31 July 1885 by Henry Seymour King with guides Emile Rey, Ambros Supersaxo and Aloys Anthamatten
Easiest route	South-east ridge (D+)

The Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey (4,112 m) is a mountain of the Mont Blanc massif in Italy. It is considered the most difficult and serious^[1] of the alpine 4000-m mountains to climb.

There are three tops to the mountain:

Pointe Güssfeldt (4,112 m)
Pointe Seymour King (4,107 m)
Pointe Jones (4,104 m)

The three tops are named after Paul Güssfeldt, Henry Seymour King and Humphrey Owen Jones.

Ascents

The highest point, Pointe Güssfeldt, was first climbed by Henry Seymour King with guides Emile Rey, Ambros Supersaxo and Aloys Anthamatten on 31 July 1885.

In July 1882, Francis Maitland Balfour, a young English professor, lost his life whilst attempting the as-yet-unclimbed summit of the Aiguille Blanche along with his guide Johann Petrus (an uncle of Joseph Knubel). C. D. Cunningham and Emile Rey watched anxiously and silently as the pair set off on the 18th,^[2]^: 231 and it was Rey who was subsequently leader of the search party that brought back their bodies to Courmayeur.^[3]

Peuterey ridge

The Aiguilles de Peuterey seen from Val Veny. Aiguille Blanche de Peuterey (extreme left, top), Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (right)

Together with its neighbour – the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (3,773 m) – the Aiguille Blanche forms part of the Peuterey ridge that leads, via the summit of the Grand Pilier d'Angle, to the summit of Mont Blanc. James Eccles, with guides Alphonse and Michel Payot, made the first ascent of the upper part of the ridge during their first ascent of Mont Blanc de Courmayeur on 31 July 1877.^[1] The main ridge itself was first climbed via a couloir on the Brenva face by Paul Güssfeldt with Emile Rey, Christian Klucker and César Ollier on 15–19 August 1893 (the second ascent was a week later by Klucker and John Percy Farrar). The first ascent of the complete ridge including the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey (the Intégrale) was on 28–31 July 1934 by Adolf Göttner, Ludwig Schmaderer and Ferdinand Krobath.

References

^ ^a ^b Dumler, Helmut and Burkhardt, Willi P., The High Mountains of the Alps, London: Diadem, 1994, p. 193
^ Gos, Charles (1937). "A Winter's Day at Courmayeur" (PDF). The Alpine Journal. 49–50: 232. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
^ Cunningham, C.D.; Abney, Cptn W. de W. (1888). "The Pioneers of the Alps" (PDF). The Alpine Journal. Retrieved 16 November 2015.