Aiguille du Midi
Wowzers! What a day!…
We had reserved a 10:00am spot on the Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi (Aiguille du Midi cable car) and took a nearby bus from the Airbnb to get us there plenty early. When we got there I received an email, from the reservation booking, stating that due to the storm the previous day the gondolas would be delayed for snow removal at the summit. Fortunately all we lost was a half hour.
The Aiguille du Midi is a 3,842 meter (12,605 ft) mountain that is part of the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. The cable car (gondola) takes you from Chamonix at an altitude of 3,396 to the Aiguille du Midi at 12,605 ft! Towards the end of the ride, it feels as if it is going nearly vertical and looks like it is going to crash right into the cliffs of the mountain… Quite an amazing feat of engineering!
At the summit there are numerous panoramic viewing platforms, a cafe, gift shop, and displays of the history and mountaineering on Mont Blanc. There are a number of climbing routes that begin and end at the Aiguille du Midi, and climbers can be seen making their way on the glaciers and ice walls. A mountaineers heaven!
We spent most of the day with our jaws dropped, photographing from the various platforms and viewing the historical displays. The views are simply breathtaking, and the altitude doesn’t help! We were happy that we had brought our puff jackets as it was pretty chilly and windy at that altitude above the glaciers.
Back down in town we had an early dinner and returned to the Airbnb to rest. This was definitely a day that will not soon be forgotten!
