Day 72: At Altitude

Date: Sunday 8^th June 2008
Staying: Mer de Glace – Chamonix, France
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Edge of the World – Faith No More

“You can see the top of the mountains, quick, look outside!” were the words I woke up to. Dutifully I pushed back the curtain and wiped the condensation from the window. Outside, looming above our campsite, we could finally see the snow covered peaks of the surrounding mountains. Ten minutes later it was my turn to come running back to the van, “You can see where we’re going today!” Away in the distance, nearly 4000m up, I could see the Summit Terrace atop the Aiguille du Midi.

Time is of the essence in the mountains, and knowing that it could cloud in any minute, we raced to the cable car station in Chamonix. Going up the mountain is done via cable car in two stages. First up to the Plan de l’aiguille at 2,317m (Chamonix is at 1,035m), then a change of cable car to the Aiguille du Midi at 3,832m. The second cable car travels the last 400m or so at an almost vertical angle (a lot like Table Mountain in Cape Town, only much, much higher). At 3,750m the view was amazing, looking out at jagged black and white peaks and snow covered mountains. Far from snowing, the moisture in the air seemed to be crystallising, making the whole place glitter like a snow globe.

The final 80m is via lift, where the pointed Summit Terrace gives a 360° view of the surrounding mountains including Mont Blanc, the highest peak around at 4,810m. We had timed it just right – it stayed clear enough for 5 minutes to take photos before some patchy cloud rolled in. Sometimes we would be in almost whiteout conditions, at other times we could see large swathes of jagged landscape.

Now, the air is very thin at that altitude, and Cam and I were already panting like two dogs on a hot day. Having had enough of being short of breath, we descended to the Plan de l’aiguille, bought hot chocolate and took in the view. Just as we were preparing to leave, the cloud rolled in for good, smothering the whole mountain top in dirty grey clouds. Our timing had been perfect.