New Year’s Eve in Chamonix
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The Mont-Blanc in Chamonix is a tremendous site that welcomes tourists of the whole world every year. The area is amazingly attractive and is notably appreciated for one of its wonders which is the “Aiguille du Midi Glass Skywalk”. If you feel eager to know about the “Aiguille du Midi” also called “Step into the Void”, this article is the right content for you.
Travel durations and preparations to Step into the Void
The normal time you’ll spend to reach the Step into the Void after leaving Chamonix is one hour, and the Mont-Blanc Observatory can confirm that. Nevertheless, it may take in high season two or three hours to get to the Aiguille du Midi’s summit. It may be possible, in exceptional circumstances, to rally the Step into the Void after counting 20 minutes once you leave Chamonix.
At the moment you access the Aiguille du Midi complex, a short walk will help you reach the elevator which drives to the top platform. As the elevator has a little size, the number of visitors is regulated so as to avoid overcrowding. For this, there may be a queue which can take in high season between 20 and 30 minutes.
Make sure you have good shoes and warm clothing, as it’s very cold at 3842m altitude. Strive to hold your camera and sunglasses. To help you resist cold and satisfy hunger, there are a souvenir shop and a cafeteria on the top platform.
The Aiguille du Midi in quality of Access Point
The Aiguille du Midi Glass Skywalk’s mountain peak has a height of 3842m and helps you get to the Mont Blanc’s summit without shoes. The Mont-Blanc Observatory reveals that the Aiguille du Midi is the starting point of a certain 3 Mont’s route which helps ascend Mont Blanc. Once you reach the latter, you have the possibility to access sports such as ski touring and off-piste skiing in the winter season, paragliding and mountaineering in the spring, autumn and summer seasons.
Step into the Void, an awesome Engineering Challenge
Step into the Void’s 3842m altitude is absolutely impressive, as it ranks among the highest summits in the world. Each of the glass panels has a thickness of 12mm and all the five glass panels are made up, each of them, of three layers of glass. These ones are bound together and have as support a metal framework.
Each one of the glass panels is custom built according to the highest standards in order to provide both safety and strength. There is a high-quality glass as well as a bonding process in charge of optimizing the transparency of the glass panels offering good acuity.
The structure is solid enough to withstand variation in temperature and winds going up to 220km/h.
The construction work of the summit was carried out by Pierre-Yves Chays. The latter is the founder of Implicite, the local design agency based in Chamonix. From the beginning to the end, the Mont-Blanc Observatory counted three years for the fulfillment of the project. The latter is an amazing technical innovation which is commissioned by the CMB, Compagnie du Mont-Blanc.
The inspiration for “Step into the Void” came from the “Skywalk”, that immense glass walkway that overlooks the Grand Canyon at the level of the US state of Arizona. At the very beginning, the CMB had the idea to create a bigger skywalk around the summit. But unfortunately, there was no possibility to achieve this, because of environmental reasons.
On-going restoration work of the Aiguille du Midi
Due to the thousands of tourists who show passion towards The Aiguille du Midi Glass Skywalk per year, the CMB decided to set a project of renovation of the summit. In 2012, another base station was built and the “Espace Vertical” happened to be delivered the same year, on June. The Step into the Void was delivered in December 2013, in a project which has cost 7 million euros.
