Aiguille du Midi (3842 m) French Alps, France

The Aiguille du Midi (3842 m) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. The name Aiguille du Midi translates literally as Needle of the South. In the brochure for its cable car the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc asserts it gets its name from the fact that it is to the south when viewed from in front of the church in Chamonix.

Unfortunately they omitted to specify which church in Chamonix is the reference point. (Midi also means Noon) The cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de lAiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the highest cable car of the world for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1035 m to 3842 m. There are two sections: from Chamonix to Plan de lAiguille at 2317 m and then directly, without any support pillar, to the upper station at 3777 m (the building contains an elevator to the summit). The span of the second section is 2867 m measured directly, but only 2500 m 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 2800 m – in 20 minutes. 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.

/Wikipedia.org/

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