Beautiful day in Chamonix

September 20, 2023 · by Dano · in Chamonix

What a difference from yesterday. Still a little cloudy at the top of the mountain but it’s supposed to clear up early morning and be nice for the next 2 days. Temperature in the valley is around 55F. Today we’ll check out the highest mountain peak served by an aerial lift, the Aiguille du Midi (translated, “Needle of the Mid-Day”). Aiguille du Midi is in the Mont Blanc massif (a compact group of mountains) and rises 3,842m or 12,605 feet! Mont Blanc, for which the range is named, continues up to 4,809 m or 15,771 feet. It’s name literally translates to, “White Mountain” due to the perennial snow cap.

Mont Blanc was first ascended in 1786 by a mountaineer who felt it wise to bring a doctor with him. Jacques Balmat, age 34, had attempted to climb to the summit of Mont Blanc but had never made it. He teamed up with Michel Paccard, a doctor who had treated his daughter and an avid alpinist. The doc quickly agreed and the two set off to make history.

On August 8, 1786, the two climbers assaulted the summit without the aid of ropes, ice axes, or crampons. The only tool they had was a staff called a “Alpenstock”. They also carried a barometer, thermometer and telescope. To ensure their climb would be validated, Paccard had two people in the valley follow their climb using telescopes.

Nowadays, an average of 20,000 mountaineers summit Mont Blanc each year, making it one of the most popular mountains in Europe.

This makes it also the most fatal mountain in the world, claiming around 100 lives per year. On the busiest weekends during the summer season, the local rescue services perform around 12 rescue missions. And not every one of them ends well — each year there are climbing deaths on Mont Blanc.

While most mountaineers climb Mont Blanc in two days, the fastest known time someone both ascended and descended Mont Blanc is 4h57m. The Catalan trail runner and mountaineer Kilian Jornet completed the climb in 2013, covering more than 3800 meters of elevation up and down.

We’ll have that beat. We’re going up the mountain at 9:25am and we’ll be back down in time for lunch, around 12:30pm. About 3 hrs round trip! OK, it will be in the cable car but so what, still counts. Can that, got a bit of a delay taking off this morning. Seems it snowed quite a bit yesterday and the crew needs to clear some paths at the top of the mountain. Not heading up the mountain until 10:15am. Damn, and we were ready to set a new record. And, the weather at the top is a bit different from the valley. Temperatures around 35F with a nice breeze of about 24mph!

Chamonix tram station for Aiguille du Midi.

Our ride has arrived!

Mom-bear on the mountain.

Yes, that is a smile.

That’s plenty of talk about the mountain, now the sights. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to stand at the top of the World? Simply magnificent!