Mont Blanc

Glaciers cover approximately 40 square miles (100 square km) of Mont Blanc (whence its name, meaning “white mountain”). Ice streams stretch from the central ice dome down to below 4,900 feet (1,490 meters). The Mer de Glace, the second longest glacier in the Alps, reached the elevation of 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) in 1930. At the beginning of the 17th century, glaciers advanced to the bottom of the Chamonix Valley, destroying or burying cultivated land and dwellings. Since that time, the glaciers have periodically advanced and retreated.