Aiguille du Midi tram. Chamonix, France. Photo: Chamonix.net
A Legendary High Mountain Ice Cave is Unstable
Starting on August 4, the infamous Aiguille du Midi ice tunnel exit in Chamonix, France, will close indefinitely. A summer of successive heatwaves in Western Europe has driven the famous grotte de glace (ice cave), located at 3,800 meters (12,467 feet), to the brink as freezing levels have reached 4,600 meters (15,061 feet) in recent days.
The Aiguille du Midi is the world’s premier access for extreme skiing in winter. It’s also the starting point for expeditions to Mont Blanc and other objectives during summer.
The cable car itself is not closing. Compagnie du Mont Blanc will continue normal summer operating hours. Visitors will still have access to the panoramic decks at the cable car top station, and mountaineers have other options for exiting the station into the high mountains.
While it’s not the only way to access the high mountains from the cable car, the ice tunnel is a key starting point for many objectives. In winter, it takes skiers and riders to the famous arête, where they must downclimb to the Valley Blanche, which is by far the most popular objective.
The ice tunnel at the Aiguille top station. Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Sightseers and mountaineers have noted rivulets of water trickling down from the cave’s exit in recent weeks. Even before the closure, mountaineers received warnings to prepare their gear in advance and spend as little time in the tunnel as possible.
No reopening date has been announced. Meanwhile, meteorologists expect the heat to continue for at least another week, and possibly longer. Western Europe has experienced a succession of “heat domes” this summer. High pressure forces air towards Earth’s surface, warming and drying it further in the process – this is also known as adiabatic warming. This type of warming also creates intense drought conditions, as soil moisture evaporates into the increasingly dry air.
High-mountain glaciers aren’t the only victims of Europe’s infernal summer. Zermatt has recently closed summer skiing due to a lack of snow on the glaciers. And dozens of wildfires continue to burn in France and Spain.
Is the Aiguille du Midi “Cooked”?
As the Alps experience increasingly hot summers, the permafrost cementing the granite spires of the Mont Blanc Massif is thawing. Massive rockfalls are increasingly common during the summer months. Eventually, with enough thawing, the cable car itself could become destabilized.
The Compagnie du Mont Blanc carefully monitors the structure for any signs of destabilization. While catastrophic failure is unlikely, even a planned closure would shutter some of the world’s the best high mountain access and devastate the Chamonix community.
Chamonix, France