Mountain landscape - Europe

Aiguille du Plan cloud inversion

This view is of 3,673m-high Aiguille du Plan, which I’ll share upfront was captured by nothing more strenuous than my taking the straightforward but absolutely spectacular gondola trip up to the summit station on Aiguille du Midi (3,842m high) above Chamonix, an alpine town often dubbed as the ‘mountain sports capital of the world’.

Not being a climber or a paraglider, I’m completely reliant on Chamonix’s tourism infrastructure to get up to this altitude. Over a short period of time, I made a few trips on the first gondola of the day (not always a given, due to its popularity), eager to get up as early as possible to capture some good morning light. (Frustratingly, in Summer, the first and last gondola trips from Chamonix to Aiguille du Midi are not designed for sunrise and sunset - at the time of writing, Summer departures are 7.15am and 5.15pm - which restricts your ability to capture quality photographs. Sunset in Chamonix in June is around 6am and sunset at 9.30pm).

If/when I go back to Chamonix, I’ll explore the opportunity to stay overnight on Aiguille du Midi (I’ve read stories of climbers who have done this when they’ve missed the last cable car descent and they’ve had to bivouac overnight) or I’ll time my visit later in the season when sunrise is slightly later. Winter I initially thought would be the obvious season for photography, and it is slightly better - the cable car starts at 0810am and sunrise in December/January is around 0800am - but I won’t be staying out overnight unless there is a sterling weather forecast.