Sabbatical - 8/22, Part 2 - Aiguille du Midi
According to our guides, the Aiguille du Midi is the third most popular tourist attraction in France. We'd originally been slated to go on August 23, but since it is a giant observation tower high on a mountain and the forecast for the 23rd was gray and gloomy, we decided that we'd take advantage of our sunny weather and squeeze it in that afternoon. We took a cable car down from Chalet de La Flegere to Chamonix, where we met our van.
After divesting ourselves of some of our hiking gear, we hopped on the cable car on the opposite side of the valley. This car rose more than 12,000 feet up the Mt. Blanc massif, with one transfer at the midway point. We were now on the Aiguille du Midi. Or to clarify, Aiguille du Midi is the name of the mountain, which is right next to Mt. Blanc. However, it also refers to this complex built high atop the mountain which includes viewing platforms in all directions. In addition to tourists like me who were using it to get as close to Mt. Blanc as possible without technical climbing, the complex is also used as a support stop for people who are hiking, climbing or skiing the massif, and it is the origin point for a cable car clear across the mountains, which we did not have time to take.
The hiking we had done to this point involved a lot of up and downs, but only on the very highest passes did we get high enough that the air thinned appreciably. Here though, we were more than twice as high as Denver, Colorado when we walked off the cable car, and we took an elevator up to the highest observation platform at 12,600 feet. The air was thin and cold even in the bright sun. I'm essentially immune to normal winter weather in Ohio, but here I quickly pulled out my long john top for warmth. Many of the other people up there were normal summer tourists who hadn't been prepared, mostly notably an absolutely stunning Italian woman wearing a very short red mini skirt and strappy sandles. I have no idea how she avoided hypothermia.
It was worth a little cold for the views. We were catching the very end of a sunny clear day and could see for many miles in all directions. If we looked down in one direction, we could see mountain climbers working their way up Mt. Blanc. In another direction skiers started the long descent to Chamonix. There were some people climbing a rocky needle. There were also a fair number of tents on the snow. If you got bored with the long vistas, you could wait in line for the "Step into the Void" experience. After putting fuzzy slippers over your shoes, you could step into a glass box jutting out from the tower. If you wanted, you could look down through the glass floor at a very, very long drop. It was... interesting.
Inside the complex was the usual gift shop and canteen. More interestingly, they had a tiny museum dedicated to "Feats of insane mountain climbing and extreme sports." That wasn't the official name, but if you wanted to read about someone free climbing a rock needle for hundreds of feet, that was the place for it. We wandered the tunnels, all of which were hewn out of the rock over the years.
We were stuck up on the mountain for many hours. The cable cars have finite capacity and took about 20 minutes to go up or down. Because of this, every ticket was timed; you couldn't leave until your slot came up hours later. There is a limit to how much I want to stand outside in beautiful but cold conditions, especially at the tail end of a long hike, so I ended up sitting on a bench in one of the hallways eating trail mix and napping.
We arrived back at the hotel we'd stayed at the first two nights. After we cleaned up my roommate Matt and I hit the same traditional restaurant we'd been after the first day of hiking. I had some lamb. It was lovely. We had one day left.
Photos eighteen through forty-four from this set are from the second portion of our August 22nd adventures.
After divesting ourselves of some of our hiking gear, we hopped on the cable car on the opposite side of the valley. This car rose more than 12,000 feet up the Mt. Blanc massif, with one transfer at the midway point. We were now on the Aiguille du Midi. Or to clarify, Aiguille du Midi is the name of the mountain, which is right next to Mt. Blanc. However, it also refers to this complex built high atop the mountain which includes viewing platforms in all directions. In addition to tourists like me who were using it to get as close to Mt. Blanc as possible without technical climbing, the complex is also used as a support stop for people who are hiking, climbing or skiing the massif, and it is the origin point for a cable car clear across the mountains, which we did not have time to take.
The hiking we had done to this point involved a lot of up and downs, but only on the very highest passes did we get high enough that the air thinned appreciably. Here though, we were more than twice as high as Denver, Colorado when we walked off the cable car, and we took an elevator up to the highest observation platform at 12,600 feet. The air was thin and cold even in the bright sun. I'm essentially immune to normal winter weather in Ohio, but here I quickly pulled out my long john top for warmth. Many of the other people up there were normal summer tourists who hadn't been prepared, mostly notably an absolutely stunning Italian woman wearing a very short red mini skirt and strappy sandles. I have no idea how she avoided hypothermia.
It was worth a little cold for the views. We were catching the very end of a sunny clear day and could see for many miles in all directions. If we looked down in one direction, we could see mountain climbers working their way up Mt. Blanc. In another direction skiers started the long descent to Chamonix. There were some people climbing a rocky needle. There were also a fair number of tents on the snow. If you got bored with the long vistas, you could wait in line for the "Step into the Void" experience. After putting fuzzy slippers over your shoes, you could step into a glass box jutting out from the tower. If you wanted, you could look down through the glass floor at a very, very long drop. It was... interesting.
Inside the complex was the usual gift shop and canteen. More interestingly, they had a tiny museum dedicated to "Feats of insane mountain climbing and extreme sports." That wasn't the official name, but if you wanted to read about someone free climbing a rock needle for hundreds of feet, that was the place for it. We wandered the tunnels, all of which were hewn out of the rock over the years.
We were stuck up on the mountain for many hours. The cable cars have finite capacity and took about 20 minutes to go up or down. Because of this, every ticket was timed; you couldn't leave until your slot came up hours later. There is a limit to how much I want to stand outside in beautiful but cold conditions, especially at the tail end of a long hike, so I ended up sitting on a bench in one of the hallways eating trail mix and napping.
We arrived back at the hotel we'd stayed at the first two nights. After we cleaned up my roommate Matt and I hit the same traditional restaurant we'd been after the first day of hiking. I had some lamb. It was lovely. We had one day left.
Photos eighteen through forty-four from this set are from the second portion of our August 22nd adventures.