Tête de Balme, mountain summit in the Mont Blanc Massif, on the France-Switzerland border

Tête de Balme, called Aiguillette on the Swiss side, is a 2,321-metre summit of the Mont Blanc massif on the France-Switzerland border. Its rounded, dome-like top is mostly bare pale brown and grey ground with darker patches of green vegetation and exposed rock, cut by deep gullies running down the face. A small cluster of structures sits on the ridge near the top on the left, and a faint track crosses the lower slopes.

This peak has marked a territorial boundary between French and Swiss lands since the Middle Ages, shaping commerce and movement across the Alps. The border line itself was formally established through treaties over multiple centuries.

The summit carries two names: Tête de Balme on the French side and Aiguillette on the Swiss side. The nearby Col de Balme closes the Chamonix valley to the south-west, and border marker no. 3 stands where the frontier turns at a right angle between the col and the Plan des Reines.

The summit is reached on foot; the nearest lift access is from Le Tour via Charamillon, and the final stretch follows mountain trails. The border runs in a right angle here, marked by boundary stone no. 3 between the Col de Balme to the southeast and the Plan des Reines to the southwest. Snow can linger on the upper slopes, so check conditions before setting out.

Border stone no. 3 stands near the summit, where the frontier makes a right angle between the Col de Balme to the south-east and the Plan des Reines to the south-west. The Arve has its sources on the sunny slope just below the top, while the Catogne lake lies on the shaded side.