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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 the Italian town of Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley.
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 Aiguille du Midi Cable Car in Chamonix attracts 500,000 people each year and gives views over much of the massif, and up towards Mont Blanc itself. From Chamonix it rises to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842 metres (12,605 ft), and holds the world record for the highest vertical ascent of any cable car (2,807 m (9,209 ft)). [5]
This, in turn, gives access to the French Téléphérique de l'Aiguille du Midi, the cable car connecting Aiguille du Midi to the French village of Chamonix, Courmayeur's sister "city". The Skyway Monte Bianco station platform on Pointe Helbronner offers a remarkable view over the Aosta Valley and the Piedmont region. The French-Italian border ...
A corresponding, but much older cable car on the northern side of the Mont Blanc massif, which ascends from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi, attracts around 500,000 people per annum, with an annual turnover of 16 million euros.
The Cosmiques Hut is most easily reached from the Aiguille du Midi, which itself is most easily reached via the telepherique (an aerial tramway) from Chamonix. The initial descent for skiers and mountaineers leaving the Midi cable-car station can be very intimidating on account of its considerable exposure.
The cable car at the Aiguille du Midi had been in existence for ten years, and the one at Salève for two; by that time Europe had a sizeable number. Even in Grenoble, a cable transportation system existed between Mount Jalla and the area of Porte de France since 1875, used to transport limestone from the quarries to the cement industry.
The tunnel passes almost exactly under the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. At this spot, it lies 2,480 metres (8,140 ft) beneath the surface, making it the world's second deepest operational tunnel [3] after the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The Mont Blanc Tunnel was originally managed by the two building companies.