It’s one of the most awe-inspiring sights in Europe: Mont Blanc. Trekking to its iconic summit is a dream for many – and it’s no mean feat, at 4,810 metres. On average, about 20,000 people ascend its summit every year, but their success is dependent on good mountaineering and thorough training. The mountain still presents an incredibly testing challenge, and those who aspire to reaching the top need to be well prepared in body and mind. Acclimatisation treks are vital, as is immersing yourself in expert advice. Reading accounts by those who have made the journey can teach you a lot, as well as inspiring you, and learning about those who have gone before will help you to understand both the mountain and the legacy of its historic champions. Here are some of the people who have paved the way for those who go Mont Blanc trekking today.

Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard

The first ascent to be recorded in the history of Mont Blanc trekking came about after the Genevan aristocrat Horace-Benedict de Saussure offered a reward for a successful attempt. In 1786, Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard set off, summiting on August 8. Balmat, a mountaineer and hunter from Sardinia, was given the title, le Mont Blanc, by Sardinia’s king in honour of his achievement. Paccard was a doctor whose scientific passion and curiosity led him to dream of taking a barometer reading at the great mountain’s summit. Their ascent went down in history as an unprecedented feat of strength, perseverance and daring – they went carrying unwieldy scientific materials, and had no ropes or ice axes. Their mission succeeded where others had failed, and all who reach the summit walk in their footsteps.

Maria Paradis and Henriette d’Angeville

The legacy of Mont Blank trekking is especially fascinating in the historical context of women’s mountaineering. Today, gender is not a barrier for aspiring climbers, but this was far from the case in the 18th and 19th centuries. Maria Paradis was the first woman to climb to the top. She was a maid from Chamonix, and accompanied one of Balmat’s later expeditions in 1808. It was not an easy ascent for her, but she persevered and the party reached the top on July 14. Maria de Mont Blanc, as she became known, did not climb again after that, but she championed women climbers thereafter. When, 30 years later, Henriette d’Angeville became the second woman to ascend the summit, Paradis attended the celebration of her successful return to personally congratulate her. D’Angeville, a French woman from an aristocratic background, was passionate about walking and had long dreamed of Mont Blanc trekking. She realised her dream in 1838, and went on to climb 21 more mountains and found a museum of mineralogy. Today’s climbers, whether male or female, can take inspiration from these pioneering women.