Day 15 - Sep 15, 2009 Last updated: 10/13/09 9:00pm PT
Day quinze, Go to the top of the French Alps.
Today we went to the top of Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps. The intent was to view Mont Blanc, which is 15,700 ft (4800 m) high. We live near Mount Rainier, which is around 14,000 feet high. We could climb Mount Rainier, but it would take a lot of training and two days to climb. To get to the top of Aiguille du Midi, we took a 20 minute cable car up to 12,600 ft (3800 m). It was extremely windy and very cold.
The sole reason for coming to Chamonix was to get up in the mountains and see something different. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. We did not see Mont Blanc. We stayed at the top for about 3 hours hoping the weather would clear, but it only got worse.
Chamonix was the home of the 1924 winter Olympics. It’s a big ski location in winter.
Hotel de l’Arve.
The cable cars were large. You could squeeze 60 people in here. They don’t look so big when viewed from the ground. From these pictures you can only see about half way up the mountain. The higher half has lots of snow.
Halfway up.
The best pictures from the top of Aiguille du Midi. The clouds kept rolling in.
This is what it would look like if the skies were clear and we were in a helicopter. This is a picture of the poster they were selling in the gift shop.
They carved tunnels into the mountain so you could get from one side to the other. This area is for an elevator to take you to the pinnacle, which you can see in one of the pictures above. It was closed today.
They also carved a tunnel in the glacier so the crazy people could go out in the wind and cold and try to climb higher. There were a few who tried today.
Chamonix from the cable car on the way down.
