Day two of our time in Chamonix France was coming to a close, as was our trip. We ended the day with a pretty big bang though by doing the Aiguille du Midi excursion in the afternoon. This was immediately after taking the Cog Rail train ride to see the Mer de Glace ice cave that same morning.
We headed over to the cable car to take us up the mountain to the summit of Aiguille and were met with a stressful experience, the type that comes from massive swarms of people standing in lines. Lines are to be expected on such occasions, but nonetheless, for me they are anxiety provoking.
Apparently when you buy tickets for the excursion they normally give you a specific time to get on the cable car, but we bought ours with the Mer de Glace excursion so we didn't have a specific time listed on the ticket and we werent aware that that was a thing. This made the situation all the more stressful when we realized that others in line were waiting for specific times. I went to talk to someone at the information booth while my sister waited in line and the woman didn't seem to know what to tell me. The conversation took a long time and went nowhere and by the time I returned to my sister she was no where to be found. She texted me saying that she was inside now and holding a place for me. So I had to do the super awkward thing of butting my way through a crowd of 50 people all in a very tight lineup. Such experiences are unpleasant for me to say the least.
Filled with shame and guilt I put my head down and pushed passed everyone as politely as I possible could, all the while imagining that they were cursing my life and silently hating me. This is typically what its like inside my head though - nothing but anxiety and stress and discomfort. My wife has said on more than one occasion "I don't know how you're able to function in this world" or something along those lines. It's usually after I tell her that I'm feeling anxious about going to the grocery store.
But anyway, I should probably talk less about my messed up brain and more about the summit peak. I assume it's why we are all here.
After the first cable car brought us half way up the mountain we had to wait a little for a second one to bring us the rest of the way up.
Look at us all taking photos of the approaching car. I wonder if everyone on the platform that day has a Hive Blog?
In the next photo (below) you can just make out the cable lines and the summit peak at the top of the mountain.
And now, to the top we go.
Up above the clouds.
Located beside the 2nd station, well below the summit, was a mountain refuge. It must be possible to hike up to at least that location.
It's unclear if it's possible to hike all the way to the summit or not. When we asked the fellow who worked the cable car he said "only in the winter" but then we did see a lot of climbers while touring the platforms on the peak, so I'm not sure if they started at the top or bottom of the mountain.
Either way, there is hiking there for the ultra adventurous.
Actually we saw a ton of people hiking the snow and rocks all around the summit. I'm guessing that many had paid guides to help and instruct them.
When we arrived at the top we recieved a time slot for when we had to return to the station to go back down the mountain. They didn't allow everyone to come and go as they please but instead everything was scheduled and coordinated.
When I look back on it now I think that is the best way to do things, otherwise the line up for the return would be ridiculously long at all times. Scheduling things reduces the crowds and wait times and makes everything run more smoothly in my opinion.
We had about an hour and 45 minutes at the top if I'm remembering correctly, which ended up being more than than enough time to see everything.
We even popped into the small canteen for a snack and a beer. Mmmmmmm, donuts.
That was near the end, just to kill the last 20 minutes or so while we waited for our return time slot.
Another Mont Blanc beer on Mont Blanc. Fitting right?
At the top there are multiple viewing platforms at various heights and none of them were too crowded during our visit.
There always seemed to be a place for us to look out and enjoy the views from the different angles.
We had time to check out all of them.
Full panoramic lookouts around every corner.
The temperature up there changed drastically compared to the city so I would dress warm if you plan to visit. Maybe just pack a jacket in a backpack to put on at the top. It was well above 20°C in Chamonix and only around 3-5°C at the summit.
Here are a few of the scenery shots that I took.
Some of those photos may actually show parts of Italy, since the mountain is so close to the country's border. In fact, there is even an option to take a third cable car over to the Italian side. You need to plan more time for that and pay more of course.
Hey there is a person climbing that rock! (Photo above)
Same hikers making their way up the mountain, but taken from a different platform.
Here are a few shots of the view towards Chamonix again.
As you can see this mountain is much higher than the ones on the Southern Balcony side.
The summit is a set of buildings built into the rocks with various viewing decks throughout. They are connected by a bridge that takes you from one side to the other.
This is me taking photos from the bridge.
As you can see, it's pretty spread out up there and there is a lot to explore.
And now, let's take a look at the bridge.
Its high up but its wide enough to not be scary.
Some of the building is inside the mountain and passes through to the other side.
Here is that guy climbing the rock from before.
There is also an elevator in there that takes you up even higher.
As you can see the final elevation gets close to 4000 meters.
This is the highest I've ever been! As you can see it's actually quite a bit higher than the other building below.
On that top deck is one final platform and one last surprise for people to enjoy, if they're willing to wait in line for their turn, that is.
It's a glass box that allows you to "step into the void" and see the views from all angles uninhibited.
We couldn't be bothered to wait in another lineup so we actually passed on that. I doubt that it would have taken long but still, no more line ups for us that day.
The Aiguille du Midi excursion was the last thing that we did on our trip and in my opinion it was well worth it. If you only had time to do one thing in the city then this would be my recommendation without a doubt. It's very high up and very impressive and offers incredible views that aren't soon forgotten. It was well worth the money and time in my opinion and was my favorite part of our time in Chamonix.
Well thats it for this trip. Until our next adventure, thanks for stopping by.