Saussure was almost single-handedly responsible for drawing attention to the Alps and particularly Mont Blanc. He visited Chamonix in 1760 and established a prize for the first ascent of Mont Blanc, which was achieved in 1786. Saussure reached the summit himself the following year and published 'Relation abregée d'un Voyage a la Cime du Mont-Blanc', the first published account of the ascent of the mountain. The present work was his magnum opus and two further volumes appeared in 1796.