JEAN-FRANÇOIS ALBANIS BEAUMONT (1753-1812)
Les Grandes Jorasses (4,208m -13, 806 ft)
Dent du Géant (4,013 m -13,166 ft)
L'Aiguille du Dru (3,754 m -12,316 ft)
France - Italy border
In Grandes Jorasses, Drues, Dent du Géant et Mer de Glace en 1787, aquatint
The mountain
The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m - 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the
Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy. Les Grandes Jorasses are, simply speaking, the most strikingly complex and powerful structure of the entire Mont Blanc massif. If Mt. Blanc is the king of the Alps, the Grandes Jorasses complex is truly the queen.
The summits on the mountain (from east to west) are:
- Pointe Walker (4,208 m; 13,806 ft), named after Horace Walker, who made the first ascent of the mountain.
- Pointe Whymper (4,184 m; 13,727 ft), he second-highest summit named after Edward Whymper, who made the first ascent.
- Pointe Croz (4,110 m - 13,484 ft), named after Michel Croz, a guide from Chamonix.
- Pointe Elena (4,045 m -13,271 ft), named after Princess Elena of Savoy.
- Pointe Margherita (4,065 m- 13,337),named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of King Umberto I of Italy
- Pointe Young (3,996 m - 13,110 ft) named after Geoffrey Winthrop Young.
The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (Pointe Walker) was by Horace Walker with guides Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange on 30 June 1868. The second-highest peak on the mountain (Pointe Whymper )was first climbed by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer, Michel Croz and Franz Biner on June 24, 1865, using what has become the normal route of ascent and the one followed by Walker's party in 1868.
The Aiguille du Dru (3,754 m -12,316 ft) (also called Les Drus in french) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French.
The mountain's highest summit is:
- Grande Aiguille du Dru (or the Grand Dru)
- Petite Aiguille du Dru (or the Petit Dru) 3,733 m.
The two summits are located on the west ridge of the Aiguille Verte (4,122 m) and are connected to each other by the Brèche du Dru (3,697 m). The north face of the Petit Dru is considered one of the six great north faces of the Alps. The southwest "Bonatti" pillar and its eponymous climbing route were destroyed in a 2005 rock fall.
The Dent du Géant (4,013 m -13,166 ft) (« Giant's tooth") is a mountain in the
Mont Blanc massif in France and Italy. The Dent du Géant remained unclimbed during the golden age of alpinism, and was a much-coveted peak in the 1870s, repelling many parties who attempted it mostly from the Rochefort ridge. In 1880 the strong team of Albert F. Mummery and Alexander Burgener tried to force a passage via the south-west face but were repelled by a band of slabs, causing Mummery to exclaim 'Absolutely inaccessible by fair means!'
The mountain has two summits, (27m-88 ft) apart and separated by a small col :
- Pointe Sella (4,009 m), first ascent via the south-west face by Jean Joseph Maquignaz with son Baptiste Maquignaz and nephew, Daniel Maquignaz on 28 July 1882.
- Pointe Graham (4,013 m), first ascent by W. W. Graham with guides Auguste Cupelin and Alphonse Payot on 20 August 1882.
The painter
Sir Jean-François Albanis Beaumont, draughtsman, aquatint engraver, and landscape painter, was born in Chambery in 1753, but naturalized in England. He studied classics in Chambéry and when he was 17 years old went to Paris. He studied 4 years at the Royal College of Engineering of Mézières and received several commissions in the Bourbonnais.
Returning in 1775 to Chambéry, he designed the decorations for the celebrations of the marriage of Clotilde de France and Prince Charles-Emmanuel. Engineer Filippo Nicolis di Robilant encouraged him to work for king Victor Amadeus III, who placed him with the chief engineer of the county of Nice, where he took part in the important works underway in Port Lympia. He was inscribed on April 30, 1780, in the class of civil architects of the University of Turin.
He accompanied the Duke of Gloucester, William Frederick of Hanover in his Grand Tour (Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland), who subsequently entrusted him with the education of his children. He then settled in Britain and married an Englishwoman of Protestant religion.
In 1787 he began to publish his first works illustrated with his own drawings
"Picturesque travel to the Pennine Alps", "
Historical and picturesque journey of the County of Nice", "
Journey through the Rhaetian Alps in 1786", "
Selected views of antiquities And ports in the south of France "and"
Travel through the Maritime Alps".
In 1796, his mission was completed and he could return to Savoie and settle near Genevawhere in 1798 he bought a small agricultural estate on the commune of Thônex with which he planned to enter the trade of wool. He does not find the success expected and must soon resell everything and resume his work as geographer and traveler.
In 1800, he published
"Journey in the Alps Lepontine from France to Italy" and then
"Description of the Greek and Cote Alps" (1802 and 1806).
In 1810, he died at the monastery of Sixt of which he became the owner. He had resumed the exploitation of the iron mines, but he faced too many difficulties. He is buried on the spot.
The views of the towns and landscapes he drew are very sought after and give an idea of the appearance of these places at the time.
