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Day 19 - Wednesday June 2, 1999 - Chamonix, France: I returned back down to Zermatt from the Gornergrat, picked up my luggage at the hotel, and headed out to Chamonix at 2:10PM. The BVZ Zermatt-Bahn train took me from Zermatt to Visp, and at Visp I switched to the Swiss rail train that took me to Martigny, then Chatelard-Frontiere, and then finally Chamonix. I arrived in Chamonix at 6:16PM, it was raining but I still decided to walk to my hotel which was near by. Checked into the Hotel l'Arve, 60 Impasse des Anemones, 295FF per night, breakfast included. The room was spacious but the bathroom was a bit dated, there was a nice balcony that overlooked a stream that ran behind the hotel. Since it was getting late, I only had time to go out on the town, and get some dinner in order to get ready for a busy day in the mountains the following day. Day 20 - Thursday June 3, 1999 - Chamonix, France: I got up early in the morning, and ate my hotel breakfast which was good, but not great. Then I walked to the Aiguille du Midi Telepherique (cable car) station arriving there at 7:45AM, and there was already a good size crowd in line waiting to buy tickets. From the station you visually follow the cables going up to the mountain, and there in the far distance you see the building on top of the Aiguille du Midi looking so small that you start to wonder if it is wise and safe to take a cable car to that high an altitude. But is has to be safe right ? I mean they have been running cable cars here since 1954, and the ones currently used were deployed in 1991. I had come too far to have this deter me so I purchased my round trip ticket for the cable car ride from Chamonix to Aiguille du Midi for 196FF. The name Aiguille du Midi means the Needle of Midday this name derives from the fact that the peak's shadow stretches across the center of Chamonix at noon. At 9:00AM my ticket group was called to board the cable car to the summit. The ride from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi is made up of two separate cable car ride sections each lasting about 10 minutes. The first section takes you from Chamonix (3,412 ft) up to a midway station called the Plan de l'Aiguille (7,612 ft) using a large cable car that holds up to 75 persons. There are three pylons holding the cable in between the stations of this first section, and whenever the cable car goes over the pylon it rocks back and forth a little bit scaring everyone on the cable car inevitably resulting in a cry of "Ooooh" from the passengers. At the Plan de l'Aiguille station you change into a little bit smaller 65 person cable car that takes you on the second section of the ride all the way up to the Aiguille du Midi (12,638 ft). The second section is a direct shot, and does not use any pylons between the two stations. The ride up to the Aiguille du Midi on these cable cars has to be one of the most exciting, and thrilling rides that I have ever been on. It is amazing to see how quickly these cable cars can climb such great altitudes, and you get a sense of how high you are when you see the town of Chamonix miniaturize before your very eyes beneath you. The cable car from Chamonix drops you off on the Piton Nord, one of the two peaks of the Aiguille du Midi. I was impressed with the sight of the cable cars approaching the Piton Nord station with Chamonix in the background. The Piton Nord station has a self serve cafeteria, snack bar, and one of the world's highest restaurants, the "3842" whose name refers to the altitude of the Aiguille du Midi in meters. I climbed the stairs of the Piton Nord to get to the Chamonix Terrace from which you have magnificent views of Chamonix below, and the French Alps all around. From the Chamonix Terrace you can look down and see the wooden foot bridge that you cross over to get to the Piton Central, the second peak of the Aiguille du Midi which towers above the first peak. This wooden bridge perilously hangs between the two peaks of the Aiguille du Midi, and there is nothing underneath it for a long way down. I went back down the stairs, and crossed the wooden bridge into the Piton Central. It was very cold, the wind was blowing fairly hard, the bridge was still covered with snow, and ice so I made sure to walk carefully and stay in the center of the bridge as much as possible. Once inside the Piton Central I took the elevator built into the center of the mountain that takes you up to the Summit Terrace. The Summit Terrace is the highest terrace on the Aiguille du Midi, and as expected the views are just awesome from there. From the Summit terrace there is a spectacular view of the Piton Nord's Chamonix Terrace beneath it, and further down in the distance Chamonix. Next I took the elevator back down, and then walked to the Mont Blanc Terrace in the back which directly faces Mont Blanc which at 15,812 feet is the tallest mountain in Europe. I was amazed by how close to Mont Blanc this terrace was, at Aiguille du Midi you are way closer to the peaks than at either Murren, or Zermatt. I befriended a couple from Florida on the terrace, and we took each other's picture with Mont Blanc in the background. There are several free telescopes on the Mont Blanc Terrace, and using one of them I was able to spot a group of climbers on the summit of Mont Blanc, now that takes guts! Next, I walked through an ice tunnel that leads to a staging area from which people who want to ski or hike down to Chamonix leave, at this point I said to myself " think I'll take the cable car down". I walked over to the rear of the Piton Central where the Panoramic Mont Blanc Telecabines take off for Pointe Helbronner, but this ride was closed due to high winds. Thus I decided to walk back to the Piton Nord, and go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. At noon, they finally opened the ride to Pointe Helbronner, and I purchased a round trip ticket for the Panoramic Mont Blanc Telecabine from Aiguille du Midi to Pointe Helbronner for 96FF. This ride has been running since 1958, and it uses four person small cabins in groups of three. The ride to Pointe Helbronner crosses over two glaciers, the Vallée Blanche (White Valley) glacier, and the Géant (Giant) glacier. Since the ride goes over glaciers that are actively moving, they could not build the needed pylon on them. So the engineers cleverly built a suspended pylon between two existing peaks along the route. The trip takes thirty minutes to complete, and the cable cars are stopped five times along the way to allow you to enjoy the magnificent vistas. This is also an amazing ride because you are literally suspended over the glaciers, and when the cars are stopped you realize how quiet it is out there with only the sound of the wind whistling by. Once at Pointe Helbronner (11,401 feet) you are on the border between France, and Italy. From there you can take an Italian cable car down to the little town of Courmayeur in the Valle d'Aosta. Unfortunately, this last stage of cable cars was closed still due to high winds, so I just went to the terrace and looked around at more magnificent vistas from Pointe Helbronner. I retraced my steps back to Aiguille du Midi, and then back down to Chamonix. The Aiguille du Midi, and Pointe Helbronner cable car rides rate as one of the major highlights of this trip to Europe. If you are ever in this area, do not miss these rides !!! |
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