A wide range of glaciers and glacial structures can be found across the Mont Blanc massif, all of which can be easily reached or viewed.
Glaciers cover 170 square kilometres (66 sq mi) of the massif, of which 110 km² (42 sq mi) fall within France.
The Mer de Glace is the largest glacier in the western Alps, and the second largest in Europe.
It has a total length of 12 km (7.5 mi) from highest snowfield to terminus and an area of 35–40 km² (14–15 sq mi).

At around 10 km (6 mi) in length, the Miage Glacier is Italy's longest glacier and also the largest debris-covered glacier in Europe.
Other large glaciers include the Argentière Glacier (9 km (5.6 mi)), the Saleina Glacier (6 km (3.7 mi)), Trient Glacier (4 km (2.5 mi)), the Bossons Glacier (c. 4 km (2.5 mi)) and the Brenva Glacier.
Whilst these glaciers appear to show similar fluctuations in length, research shows that each glacier of the Mont Blanc massif has its own individual and distinctive response time to changes in snowfall and climate.
The Bossons Glacier is known to respond first, then the Argentière and the Trient Glaciers respond four to seven years later, with the Mer de Glace reacting last —between eleven and fifteen years after changes are first observed in the movement of ice in the Bossons Glacier.

Even the smallest glaciers can have a significant impact on the environment and on human activity.
In 1892, a large body of water which had accumulated under the surface of the Tête Rousse Glacier, burst suddenly on the night of 11 July.
It released 200,000 cubic metres (7,100,000 cu ft) of water and ice which flowed down the mountainside, killing 175 people in Saint-Gervais.
The recent rediscovery of a further build-up of water deep within the glacier is now a cause of serious concern.

The inexorable downward movement and melting of glaciers can result in objects lost within them reappearing many years later.

The first recorded account of a body reappearing from a glacier in the Mont Blanc range was made by Viscount Edmond de Catelin in 1861.
It concerned three alpine guides who were buried in a crevasse during an avalanche on 20 August 1820 near the Rocher Rouges, high up on Mont Blanc, during an expedition organised by Joseph Hamel.
Forty years later the remains of two of them were discovered, re-exposed within fissures in the Bossons glacier.
They were 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) lower down from the point where they were lost; the corpse of the third guide was discovered the following year.
In 2014, a group of climbers found a body on the Glacier du Talèfre, close to the Couvercle Hut.
It was identified as that of a young Chamonix guide who had been caught in a winter storm during a solo ascent of the Nant Blanc face of the Aiguille Verte in 1982 and was assumed to have fallen into a crevasse.
In 2013, a box of valuable gemstones was found by a climber on the Bossons Glacier.
It had re-emerged, having been carried 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) downhill from the site of one of two Air India plane crashes.
These occurred at almost identical locations high up near the summit of Mont Blanc: one in 1950 (Air India Flight 245), and one in 1966 (Air India Flight 101).
Debris from these crashes is still commonly found on the glacier below.
A wide range of glaciers and glacial structures can be found across the Mont Blanc massif, all of which can be easily reached or viewed. Glaciers cover 170 square kilometres (66 sq mi) of the massif, of which 110 km² (42 sq mi) fall within France. The Mer de Glace is the largest glacier in the western Alps, and the second largest in Europe. It has a total length of 12 km (7.5 mi) from highest snowfield to terminus and an area of 35–40 km² (14–15 sq mi).
At around 10 km (6 mi) in length, the Miage Glacier is Italy's longest glacier and also the largest debris-covered glacier in Europe. Other large glaciers include the Argentière Glacier (9 km (5.6 mi)), the Saleina Glacier (6 km (3.7 mi)), Trient Glacier (4 km (2.5 mi)), the Bossons Glacier (c. 4 km (2.5 mi)) and the Brenva Glacier. Whilst these glaciers appear to show similar fluctuations in length, research shows that each glacier of the Mont Blanc massif has its own individual and distinctive response time to changes in snowfall and climate. The Bossons Glacier is known to respond first, then the Argentière and the Trient Glaciers respond four to seven years later, with the Mer de Glace reacting last —between eleven and fifteen years after changes are first observed in the movement of ice in the Bossons Glacier.
Even the smallest glaciers can have a significant impact on the environment and on human activity. In 1892, a large body of water which had accumulated under the surface of the Tête Rousse Glacier, burst suddenly on the night of 11 July. It released 200,000 cubic metres (7,100,000 cu ft) of water and ice which flowed down the mountainside, killing 175 people in Saint-Gervais. The recent rediscovery of a further build-up of water deep within the glacier is now a cause of serious concern.
The inexorable downward movement and melting of glaciers can result in objects lost within them reappearing many years later. 
The first recorded account of a body reappearing from a glacier in the Mont Blanc range was made by Viscount Edmond de Catelin in 1861. It concerned three alpine guides who were buried in a crevasse during an avalanche on 20 August 1820 near the Rocher Rouges, high up on Mont Blanc, during an expedition organised by Joseph Hamel. Forty years later the remains of two of them were discovered, re-exposed within fissures in the Bossons glacier. They were 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) lower down from the point where they were lost; the corpse of the third guide was discovered the following year. In 2014, a group of climbers found a body on the Glacier du Talèfre, close to the Couvercle Hut. It was identified as that of a young Chamonix guide who had been caught in a winter storm during a solo ascent of the Nant Blanc face of the Aiguille Verte in 1982 and was assumed to have fallen into a crevasse. In 2013, a box of valuable gemstones was found by a climber on the Bossons Glacier. It had re-emerged, having been carried 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) downhill from the site of one of two Air India plane crashes. These occurred at almost identical locations high up near the summit of Mont Blanc: one in 1950 (Air India Flight 245), and one in 1966 (Air India Flight 101). Debris from these crashes is still commonly found on the glacier below.
Mont Blanc massif