The Vallée Blanche Cable Car ( Italian : Funivia dei Ghiacciai ; French : Télécabine Panoramic Mont-Blanc , previously Télécabine de la Vallée Blanche ) is a passenger cable car linking a mountain peak above Courmayeur ( Italy ) to a peak above Chamonix ( France ) by passing over the Mont Blanc massif , in the Alps . The engineering was developed by Vittorio Zignoli of Polytechnic University of Turin . No helicopters were used, and all the workers were chosen among locals and alpine guides. After a construction period of four years, it began service in 1958.
15-426: The cable car connects the peaks of Aiguille du Midi (3,778 m (12,395 ft) elevation) and Pointe Helbronner (3,466 m (11,371 ft) elevation), over a distance of some 5 km (3.1 mi). The two peaks have their own cable car system connecting them to their nearby villages. The French Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi connects the peak of Aiguille du Midi to the village of Chamonix, while
30-477: A haulage rope of 10,200 m (33,500 ft) in a single loop. The cabins take some 30 to 35 minutes for the whole distance, including 5 short stops corresponding the stops of the cabins arriving in the stations at either end. The cabins run from the Aiguille du Midi station (3,778 m (12,395 ft) elevation) across a span of 1,684 m (5,525 ft) over Vallée Blanche , a glacier and snow valley, to
45-574: 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. The idea for a cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi , was originally proposed around 1909, but did not come into operation until 1955 when it held
60-563: Is access by cable car to a nearby peak on the Italian side, called Skyway Monte Bianco , with a vertical lift of 2,166 m, and a cable car from that peak to Aiguille du Midi. This is only open in the summer. At the mountain's summit there is a panoramic viewing platform, a snack bar, a café, a restaurant, and a gift shop. Even in summer, temperatures in the open viewing areas can fall to −10 °C (14 °F), and visitors require both warm clothing and protection from very bright sunlight. Because of
75-561: The Gros Rognon station (3,536 m (11,601 ft)). The Gros Rognon station is not a passenger station—it contains the counterweights of the fixed cables and the rails bending the horizontal direction of the cables by some 8° to the right. Beyond the Gros Rognon, the cabins cross the Géant Glacier and snow valley, a span of 2,831 m (9,288 ft) between supports. Although
90-594: The Italian Skyway Monte Bianco (Funivie Monte Bianco) connects the peak of Pointe Helbronner to the village of La Palud, just north of Courmayeur. This tourist attraction spans the valleys between the two peaks, high above the Mont Blanc Tunnel , which carries automotive passenger and freight traffic under the two peaks. The Vallée Blanche Cable Car has fixed track cables (one each direction) carrying 12 groups of 3 small cabins each which are pulled by
105-460: The Italian town of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley . This makes it possible to travel "by air" from Chamonix, France to Courmayeur, Italy – a route normally traversed by the highway running through the Mont Blanc Tunnel . Several routes for fit, experienced mountaineers can either start or finish at the Aiguille du Midi, although the nearby Cosmiques Refuge is the best starting point for
120-645: The cable car was badly damaged when a Republic F-84F Thunderstreak of the French Armée de l'Air tore its hauling cable. Three cars crashed and six people were killed. Pilot Bernard Ziegler landed his damaged plane safely. The upward cable was undamaged, but 81 riders had to wait many hours for rescue. On September 8, 2016 110 people were stranded when the cable cars stopped. They needed to be evacuated by helicopter. Download coordinates as: Aiguille du Midi The Aiguille du Midi ( French pronunciation: [eɡɥij dy midi] , "Needle at midday" )
135-544: The cables sag by some 255 m (837 ft), the cabins still have a clearance of some 300 m (980 ft) to the glacier underneath. Between the rocks of the Large and the Small Flambeau, three 315 m (1,033 ft) long steel cables are installed, which take over the role of the cable support ( Pylône suspendu / Suspended Support Pillar ). During construction, it was decided to build this unique configuration, because
150-523: The danger, tourists are unable to leave the visitor facilities on the Midi's summit. However, mountaineers and skiers can pass through a tunnel to reach the steep and extremely exposed ice ridge to descend to the glacier below. In December 2013, a glass skywalk called "Step into the Void" opened at the top of the Aiguille du Midi peak. The view is 1,035 m (3,396 ft) straight down, and one can see Mont Blanc to
165-424: The glacier is unsuitable for high tower construction. Between the anchors of these cables at either side, there is a difference in elevation of 136 m (446 ft), resulting in these cables having a horizontal inclination of some 23° to the direction of the tramway. From this support the cable car runs 447 m (1,467 ft) to Pointe Helbronner (3,466 m (11,371 ft) elevation). On 29 August 1961,
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#1733086163757180-405: The longer routes: List of spans#Aerial tramways The following is a list of spans , either used for overhead line crossings of rivers, sea straits or valleys, as antenna or for aerial tramways . At these spans the sag of the conductors is less than the height of the pylons At these spans, the pylons are situated on the tops of mountains, so the topography determines the height of
195-576: The south. A further tourist attraction called "Le Tube" opened in 2016. It consists of an enclosed tubular walkway that completely circles the summit. During summer months only, the Vallée Blanche Cable Car crosses "peak-to-peak" from Aiguille du Midi to Pointe Helbronner (3,462 m (11,358 ft)) at the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif. Pointe Helbronner is served by another cable car, Skyway Monte Bianco, to Entrèves , near
210-439: The summit). The span of the second section is 2,867 m (1.781 mi) measured directly, but only 2,500 m (1.6 mi) measured horizontally. Thus it remains the second longest span width , measured directly. The cable car travels from Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille du Midi – an altitude gain of over 2,800 m (9,200 ft) – in 20 minutes, costing around €75 for an adult ticket from Chamonix and back. There
225-413: The title of the world's highest cable car for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 to 3,842 m (3,396 to 12,605 ft). There are two sections: from Chamonix to Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 m (7,602 ft) and then directly, without any support pillar, to the upper station at 3,777 m (the building contains an elevator to
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