L'Aiguille du Midi - A Needle in the Alps

While Toronto and Seattle both have their manmade Space Needles, here in the French Alps, this needle is completely natural. Called l'Aiguille du Midi, translated as the Needle at Noon, it lies southeast of Chamonix and when seen from the town's church, the sun passes over its summit at noon.

With over 1/2 million visitors per year, l'Aiguille du Midi is France's 2nd most popular natural tourist attraction after Les Gorges du Verdon. A cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, was originally proposed around 1909, but wasn't finished until 1955, capturing 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. The tramway ascends from Chamonix to the top of the l'Aiguille du Midi, an altitude gain of over 2,800 m, in only in 20 minutes.

PLAN DE L'AIGUILLE The cable car ride between Chamonix and l'Aiguille du Midi is in two stages. The first stage is the departure point for the Balcon Nord hike to the Montenvers (Mer de Glace) site. The Refuge du Plan, a quick 5-minute walk, serves food and refreshments at lunchtime.

PANORAMIC MONT BLANC GONDOLA Open from June to September, you can choose to take the gondola lift ride to Italy (instead of the Mont Blanc Tunnel) over the Glacier du Géant to the Pointe Helbronner in Italy.

THE AIGUILLE SUMMIT

Once at the summit, you have the choice of a cafeteria, 3842 gourmet restaurant and a gift shop. Awarded Maitre Restaurateur thanks to the use of local ingredients, you will be even have competition between the awe-inspiring view and the delicious morsels of food on your plate.

LE PIPE DE L'AIGUILLE DU MIDI

Opening in April 2016 (this month), this five-year project called Le Pipe will create a unique glass pass-through connecting several of the different areas at the summit. Below is an awesome time-lapse of the construction of Le Pipe.

I recently met up with Clare Langstone, a British guest at our AirBNB place, so I asked her a few questions about her impression of l'Aiguille du Midi:

How did you first hear about l’Aiguille du Midi?

"I skiied the Vallée de Mont Blanc way back when, so I wanted to see the view from the top, where I had started my descent."

What was your impression of it once you got there?

"It was really breathtaking! Plus, at the top it was sunny, so I had an amazing view all around. The site was very well-indicated in French and English, and I learned a lot about the history of mountain-climbing. It was actually the Victorian English gentry who first came to Chamonix and started climbing the peaks and writing about it back in England."

Was there anything that took you by surprise at the l'Aiguille du Midi?

"Yes, when I “stepped into the void”, onto the glass platform, I was taken aback by a sudden fear that I wasn’t expecting. I couldn’t even take photos! It was very impressive and unexpectedly scary."

Do you have any advice for other people coming to l’Aiguille du Midi?

"I would recommend that you book online, so you don’t have to wait in two separate lines, one to buy the tickets, and one to wait for the cable car. Also, if you want a more serene experience, I would recommend going early in the morning, when the only people there are the expert mountain climbers."