James Gaston

Hikers and Mt Blanc

Aiguille du Midi map

Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m) 19 Jul 2004 Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m) 19 Jul 2004 Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix, Tour Mt Blanc --

Glacier-fed stream

No, this is not a scene from the Tour Mt Blanc. We prefaced the TMB hike with a day in Chamonix, to acclimatize and because, well, Chamonix is a charming town in a beautiful Alpine river valley. One could easily spend a week here, window shopping the pretty streets and eating at the cafes, interspersed with day hikes and gondolas into the surrounding mountains.

There was a choice of two itineraries for Chamonix. Paul, Regina and Emily rendezvoused and lunched with an HP co-worker who lives up here, in the mountains. Meanwhile, Linda and I took the cable car to the Aiguille du Midi, a multi level viewing area perched at the pinnacle of a tall mountain.

Turns out, the Aiguille du Midi is breathtaking.

It takes two cable cars to get to the Aiguille du Midi. Once at the top, after soaking in the views, there being a glacier to one side, the Chamonix valley to the other, you can, weather permitting, take yet another cable car; this one connects the 3,842m Aiguille du Midi peak high above Chamonix, in France, with the 3,462m Pointe Helbronner above Courmayeur, in Italy. It passes over a glacier to Punta Helbronner and from there you can catch another car down the other side, to Courmayeur. Amusingly, there is some dispute over who owns Punta Helbronner, Italy or France? Unfortunately, the cable car to Helbronner was closed because of weather.

Update: I returned to Aiguille du Midi in August 2009, when Paul and I hiked the Haute Route.

Update: The second cable car, the one that was closed when I visited, suffered a breakdown in September 2016, requiring a rescue of over a 100 passengers. Some 36 cabins (tiny, claustrophobic, bathroom-less and heat-less 4-seat glass bubbles) were left dangling at 3,000m after high wind gusts caused cables to get tangled.

Cables up to the Aiguille du Midi

Let your eyes follow the cables up to the top. It takes two cable car segments to reach the top. That tiny, pointy thing is the destination.

Cables up to the Aiguille du Midi

Let your eyes follow the cables up to the top. It takes two cable car segments to reach the top. That tiny, pointy thing is the destination.

Cables up to the Aiguille du Midi

Let your eyes follow the cables up to the top. It takes two cable car segments to reach the top. That tiny, pointy thing is the destination.

Aiguille du Midi

Chamonix valley

View from cable car as we rise to the top.

Chamonix valley

View from cable car as we rise to the top.

Chamonix valley

View from cable car as we rise to the top.

Chamonix valley

Aiguille du Midi

We are at the top looking down on a lower platform. In the distance, at the bottom of the valley, is Chamonix.

Aiguille du Midi

We are at the top looking down on a lower platform. In the distance, at the bottom of the valley, is Chamonix.

Aiguille du Midi

We are at the top looking down on a lower platform. In the distance, at the bottom of the valley, is Chamonix.

Linda at top

Aiguille du Midi

The lower section of the Aiguille du Midi is in the foreground and far below is Chamonix, at the bottom of the valley.

Aiguille du Midi

The lower section of the Aiguille du Midi is in the foreground and far below is Chamonix, at the bottom of the valley.

Aiguille du Midi

The lower section of the Aiguille du Midi is in the foreground and far below is Chamonix, at the bottom of the valley.

Hikers and Mt Blanc

Aiguille du Midi map