Suspended in mid air [Coordinates 45° 52′ 43″ N, 6° 53′ 14″ E]
Holding the title of highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, the two-section journey to Aiguille Du Midi is guaranteed to induce a slight tingling sensation. Launching from the picturesque town of Chamonix, in the heart of the French Alps, one ascends through some of the most beautiful scenery in Europe, reaching Piton Nord and the 360° platform at the summit of Aiguille Du Midi.
After a strong coffee, the potential onset of slight shortness of breath and an altitude induced headache, you can choose to board a much smaller cable car, roughly the size of a helicopter cockpit and travel horizontally to Helbronner at an elevation of 3,466m. Weather permitting this section of the journey offers spectacular views over the Valley Blanche and the Der Mer Glacier far below. Reaching Helbronner platform at the Italian border you may be rewarded with the most spectacular panoramas into Italy. Or maybe not…the mountainous weather changes with phenomenal speed, clouds, mist and rain able to render the cable car stationary at any time.
Photographically somewhere between ‘tourist snap’ and documentary black and white; the approach was simple: to capture the feeling of the journey. The ‘trophy view’ of the Mont Blanc summit being forfeited for ‘the essence of the experience’. Constantly marvelling at how this was first established and how much faith we place in the steel cable, I hope these images will give a considered and timeless representation to this unique experience.
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