Aiguille du Midi

Aiguille du Midi

The Aiguille du Midi in summer
Elevation 3,842 m (12,605 ft)
Prominence 310 m (1,020 ft)[1]
Translation Needle of the Noon
Needle of the South (French)
Location
Aiguille du Midi

France

Location Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France
Range Mont Blanc Massif
Coordinates 45°52′43″N 06°53′14″E / 45.87861°N 6.88722°ECoordinates: 45°52′43″N 06°53′14″E / 45.87861°N 6.88722°E
Geology
Type Granite
Climbing
First ascent 4 August 1818 by Antoni Malczewski, J. M. Balmat and 5 guides

The Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m / 12,605 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps.

Name

The name "Aiguille du Midi" translates literally as Needle of the South: i.e. -le Midi. The southern region of France is colloquially known as le Midi,[2][3] a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,[4] Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy.[5] [4]

Cable car

The cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the world's highest cable car for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3842 m. There are two sections: from Chamonix to Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 m and then directly, without any support pillar, to the upper station at 3,777 m (the building contains an elevator to the summit). The span of the second section is 2,867 m (1.781 mi) measured directly, but only 2,500 m (1.6 mi) measured horizontally. Thus it remains the second longest span width, measured directly. The tramway travels from Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille du Midi – an altitude gain of over 2,800 m – in 20 minutes. An adult ticket from Chamonix (as of 04/10/2014) is €55 return.

Summit

The Aiguille summit contains a panoramic viewing platform, a café and a gift shop. The Vallée Blanche ski run begins here, and the nearby Cosmiques Refuge is the starting point for one of the routes to the Mont Blanc summit. From the Aiguille another cable car (summer months only), the Vallee Blanche Aerial Tramway crosses the Glacier du Géant to Pointe Helbronner (3,462 m) at the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif. Pointe Helbronner is served with a cable car from La Palud, a village near Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley (Italy).

In December 2013, a glass skywalk called "Step into the Void" opened at the top of the Aiguille du Midi peak (3842 meters high). The view is 1035 meters straight down, and one can see Mont Blanc to the south.[6]

A panoramic view of the Mont Blanc from Aiguille du Midi

Photo gallery

References

  1. ↑ Swisstopo map
  2. ↑ Lyons, Declan (18 February 2009). Cycling guide to the Canal du Midi, Languedoc, France, Europe. Midpoint Trade Books. ISBN 978-1-85284-559-9.
  3. ↑ Passy, Paul (1904). International French-English and English-French dictionary. Hinds, Noble & Eldredge.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Louis Papy, Le midi atlantique, atlas et géographie de la France moderne, Flammarion, Paris, 1984
  5. ↑ "The Regions of France - Midi (from the Pyrenees to the Riviera)". about-france.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  6. ↑ Will Coldwell,Step into the Void: the glass skywalk at the top of the French Alps – in pictures, The Guardian, 19 December 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aiguille du Midi.