Chamonix-Mont Blanc

4th September 2013

Another long days driving and we have arrived in Chamonix. Views are awesome but we have yet to see Mont Blanc as it is hidden behind the mountains that close in the valley.

View from anywhere in Chamonix

Brevent chair-lift that is on the opposite side to Mont Blanc and I am sure will have great views of the mountains across the valley. Can't wait to try this chair-lift.

The bus and train are free for everyone that stays in the valley. Our first venture into the mountains started with a train ride to Argentiere and a walk along the lower Grand Balcony Nord up about 850m and then across the upper Grand Balcony Nord to a chair-lift, Grands Montets. The above photo was a glimpse of a glacier, Mer De Glace.

                                           Looking down into the valley and Chamonix.

                                                 Views across to the other side of the valley

The finish of our walk is finally in sight. 5 hours made it a long and quite difficult walk with 850m up-hill and some of it very steep and sometimes scary.

             Goats and sheep at the Lognan (middle station) of the Grand Montets Lift.

From Lognan, we took the upper chair-lift up to Aiguilles des Grands Montets at 3297m. Hard to imagine why someone would build such a structure so high up in the mountains. It just clung to a solid mass of rock. Amazing!! And I have been on some long chair-lifts, but none so steep as this one. Up 1322m in a single span and on a single piece of thick metal rope. Hope it holds!!!

                                             Up, up and away!!!! The sky is full of these.

                                               2 Guys walking on the glacier