Aiguille du Midi north face and summit station

This is one of a handful of images in my portfolio, all from the French mountain town of Chamonix, that didn’t require much effort to create - it was taken one evening from the roadside in Les Praz during a walk my wife and I took after dinner. In view is a hint at the most popular tourist attraction in Chamonix, with, bottom-right beneath Plan de l'Aiguille, a stanchion for the téléphériques, or cable cars, which will take you on the second stage of a journey you can make from Chamonix town centre at 1,035m above sea level to the summit of Aiguille du Midi at 3,842m. (Or very near to the summit, there’s a lift inside the mountain that will take you to the top). A wildly incongruous piece of architecture, used its said by over 2,000 people daily - including climbers, skiers, guides and their clients - Aiguille du Midi summit station was built in 1959 and on completion became the highest gondola ride in the world. Also visible is the top parts of some of the climbing routes on the north face of the mountain, including the Frendo Spur which finishes either side of the rocks to the left of the summit (first climbed in 1944 by Edouard Frendo and Rene Rionda) and the Mallory-Porter route, which was put up in 1919 by George Leigh Mallory - of Everest fame - and Harold Porter, which finishes up the snow / ice field beneath the station above the obvious hanging seracs.

Sources: Mont Blanc Lines and others