 He was then accepted into the Chamonix Guides Company (Compagnie des guides du Chamonix), receiving his certificate of admission on 11 May 1852.Payot has been reported in respected 20th-century mountaineering literature as being the youngest person at that time to have reached the summit of Mont Blanc.In 1843, and at the age of 16, he is stated to have been amongst a party which reached the summit of Mont Blanc.