The Jacques Balmat Memorial honours one of the two men who first reached the summit of Mont Blanc in 1786. The statue, erected in 1887, shows Balmat pointing toward the mountain, and it has become one of Chamonix's standard photo stops.
It is a quick sight, but a useful one: the monument connects the town centre to the mountaineering story that made Chamonix famous. Look south from the statue on a clear day for the full effect.