Chamonix, the Mer de Glace and the Grand Balcon Nord

The Mer de Glace is a valley glacier on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif — about 7.5 km long and 200 m deep, and counting its tributaries the longest glacier in France and the second longest in the Alps after the Aletsch. This day reaches it by rack railway, then walks the Grand Balcon Nord back under the aiguilles to Plan de l’Aiguille, finishing on the cable car to the Aiguille du Midi.

The glacier is retreating, and quickly. Between 1939 and 2001 its surface dropped an average of about 30 cm a year. From 1983 it began melting faster, driven mainly by a rise of about 1.5 °C in summer temperatures, and it has since lost roughly 100 m in thickness. The practical consequence is visible on arrival: the staircase from the gondola down to the ice cave has had to be lengthened repeatedly, reaching about 580 steps by the early 2020s. The glacier front is forecast to retreat a further 1,000–1,400 m by 2040. Once easily seen from Chamonix, it is now barely visible from the valley.

Getting there. Chamonix is about 1.5 hours by road from Geneva. The Montenvers railway leaves from Chamonix-Montenvers station, a short walk from the town centre.

Permits & tickets. The Montenvers railway is about €35 return for an adult; the Aiguille du Midi cable car is about €63 return. The ice cave is included with the railway ticket. No permits are needed for the path.

Good to know:

Walked in this direction — Montenvers to Plan de l’Aiguille — the balcony path climbs about 600 m. The reverse direction is mostly downhill and much easier.
The Montenvers railway closes for about 2.5 weeks in October for annual maintenance.
The Aiguille du Midi top station is at 3,842 m. The altitude is felt; some visitors get headaches or shortness of breath.
The high path holds snow into early summer. Check conditions before committing to it.

اليوم 1

Chamonix to the Mer de Glace and the Aiguille du Midi

Chamonix → Aiguille du Midi 8 km ↑ 600 m

التنقّل في هذا اليوم

One day linking the two classic mechanical ascents out of Chamonix with the high traverse that runs between them.

مقاطع

Chamonix and the walk to the station 0.5 km ↑ 0 m 📍 خريطة

Chamonix town centre → Chamonix-Montenvers station

Town streets

Chamonix sits in the Haute-Savoie, under the Mont Blanc massif, and hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924. The Montenvers station is beside the main railway station, a few minutes' walk from the centre. Start early — the first trains are the quietest. About 15 minutes.

عن هذا المكان

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, more commonly known simply as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics, held in 1924.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
The Montenvers rack railway 5.1 km ↑ 871 m 📍 خريطة

Chamonix-Montenvers station → Montenvers-Mer de Glace station

Rack railway

A metre-gauge rack line, opened in 1909 and electrified in 1954, climbing 871 m over 5.1 km on the Strub rack system at gradients of 11% to 22%. Trains run at 14–20 km/h and take about 20 minutes to reach Montenvers-Mer de Glace at 1,913 m, where the glacier comes into view.

عن هذا المكان

The Montenvers Railway or Chemin de fer du Montenvers is an alpine rack railway line in the Haute-Savoie department of France. It runs from Chamonix-Montenvers station in the valley in Chamonix to Montenvers-Mer de Glace station near the Mer de Glace, at an altitude of 1,913 m (6,276 ft). Opened in 1909, it was electrified in 1954.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
The Mer de Glace and the ice cave 0.4 km ↑ 0 m 📍 خريطة

Montenvers-Mer de Glace station → Mer de Glace ice cave

Gondola and steel staircases

A gondola, opened in 1988 with a capacity of 1,200 people an hour, drops from the station toward the ice; from it a staircase of about 580 steps continues down to the cave. The cave itself is artificial and has been dug out fresh every year since the middle of the 19th century, because the glacier flows and carries the previous year's tunnel away with it. The site takes about 350,000 visitors a year. The descent and return, with the cave, takes about 90 minutes — and the climb back up the steps is the hard part.

عن هذا المكان

The Mer de Glace ice cave is an artificial ice cave in the French department of Haute-Savoie, on the Mont Blanc massif of the French Alps. The cave, which is situated within the Chamonix valley, on the Mer de Glace glacier, has been dug out every year since the middle of the 19th century. This annual renewal is made necessary by the flow of the glacier it sits on. Mer de Glace welcomes approximately 350,000 visitors per year.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
The Grand Balcon Nord to Plan de l'Aiguille 6.8 km ↑ 600 m 📍 خريطة

Montenvers-Mer de Glace station → Plan de l'Aiguille

Mountain path, rocky in places

The balcony path traverses the slope under the Chamonix aiguilles, with the valley below and Mont Blanc, the Aiguilles Rouges and Le Brévent opposite. It climbs over Signal Forbes at about 2,198 m, with views back to Les Drus and down the glacier, and tops out at roughly 2,315 m. Walked this way it is a sustained climb of about 600 m; allow about 3 hours.
The cable car to the Aiguille du Midi 0.2 km ↑ 0 m 📍 خريطة

Plan de l'Aiguille → Aiguille du Midi

Cable car and viewing terraces

Plan de l'Aiguille is the mid-station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car, so the path ends where the lift resumes. The Aiguille du Midi is a 3,842 m peak in the Mont Blanc massif; the cable car reaches about 3,810 m and a lift carries you the rest of the way to the summit terraces, which look across the massif toward Mont Blanc. Descend to Chamonix on the same line. Allow about an hour at the top.

عن هذا المكان

The Aiguille du Midi is a 3,842-metre-tall (12,605 ft) mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix that takes visitors close to Mont Blanc.
اقرأوا المزيد في ويكيبيديا ↗
صورة: Garrondo · CC BY-SA 3.0