![]() ![]() Immediately you feel like you’re on another planet. You take two cable cars to get up to the top at a staggering 3,842 metres high. Looking down at the teeny tiny town of Chamonix from the top of Aiguille du Midi was a humbling experience. I suffer from health anxiety and I had to keep reminding myself this was a very normal reaction. Please remember, your breathing feels heavy, your body limbs like lead, heart racing and yeah, it’s uncomfortable. Hey, if chocolate works in Harry Potter, it’s going to work up a mountain for someone feeling faint, right? So after having a very quick look around, we beelined for the café where I purchased a few cans of coke and Kinder Bueno chocolates to perk everyone back up. Much like when you are drunk but someone is much drunker than you – you can spring into action to help them out. It’s great if someone in your group can keep their cool. But I tried to keep it together because Joe was struggling with the altitude too. The average person who is not used to big altitude changes (hi, it’s me) will feel completely off. Something you might not be expecting… When you arrive a 3842 meter well, you don’t feel that great. You made it to the top! Here’s what’s about to happen: It takes around 25 minutes in total, but the anticipation makes it feel exciting. If you’re like me? Find a distraction very quickly.įinally, you get to the TOP. If you’re not scared of heights, the views really are so beautiful, so take a good look out. Distracting myself with my emails and Instagram so that I didn’t look down. ![]() I learned my lesson from the first cable car and packed myself in the middle on our second journey. It’s all done seamlessly, but make sure you have your ticket ready, they check them along each part of the journey. From here you switch to another cable car that will take you up to the very top. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t! You’ll be totally fine.Īt 2,500 metres the first cable car reaches its final point. The cable car rocks back and forth as it goes over each peak and yes, I felt that my impending fall and crash into the mountain was imminent. Nope! We packed in with about 25 other people, predominately skiers and snow hikers who were ready to tackle a much more arduous journey.Īs someone who is unfamiliar with ski lifts or cable cars, it can be a scary experience. I thought these were going to be small cable cars. The cable cars are massive, which given the little research I’d done before had surprised me. I wasn’t going to let my immense fear of heights ruin this for me. Joe and I visited Chamonix years ago and the lifts were closed – it was November time. Alternatively, you can purchase one that takes you mid-way up, but unless you’re skiing down, where’s the fun in that? What to expect on your way up in the cable cars: The ticket centre is right on the edge of town (it’s also the location where you’ll board the cable car) and you can purchase tickets pretty quickly, although the price is about as steep as the mountain itself – €65 per ticket for the Mont Blanc unlimited pass. You can easily buy your tickets before your trip up I should have opted for snow boots or even maybe a pair of UGGs. I wore a pair of Timberlands, which truly weren’t warm enough. And it goes without saying, you’re going to want boots. Double or triple up on socks (I should have worn a third sock layer). ![]() Make sure you have thermals under your clothes, a giant puffy coat or parka, a toasty pair of gloves and the warmest hat you can find. At the top of the Aiguille du Midi, the temperature warns that it was around -19 degrees Celsius on the day of our visit. As we were visiting in the middle of January – it was freezing. What to know before your visit to Mont Blanc: It’s going to be cold if you’re visiting in the winterĪnd I’m not talking about an annoying slight chill. Unless you’re heading out hiking or skiing, this is as close as you can get to the top of Mont Blanc. I’m going to talk about the Chamonix experience, as we didn’t venture over to Italy this time.įrom Chamonix, in order to visit Mont Blanc, you will go up the Aiguille du Midi, which is a mountain peak standing at 3842 metres (or 12,605 feet) in the Mont Blanc massif. You can visit by either taking cable cars up from Chamonix, France or alternatively the Italian side. Mont Blanc is the HIGHEST mountain in Europe standing tall at 4,810 metres (15,777 feet)!! Here’s what you need to know if you didn’t already. Your background information on Mont Blanc And before reading ahead – know that this might be one of those things you wish you didn’t know before visiting somewhere new.īut I’m cracking along because even if some things are scary or take you out of your comfort zone – they’re still worth doing.Īnd visiting Mont Blanc is one of those experiences. There are some things better left unsaid. ![]()
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