^^ A Digital tour of the Mountains ^^

Aiguille Du Midi
3523 meters

The Aig. du Midi is the highest point of the Chamonix Aiguilles (needles) and sits in splendor overlooking the valley.   It is a complex mountain with many faces and thus many routes.  The route I climbed was the south-south-west ridge (the Cosmiques arete) it is graded at AD and can be climbed in a day by getting the first cable car of the day to the mountain and then traversing to the start of the route. It is a good mixed route with plenty of hard exposed moves, it involves many techniques including abseil and climb out of a gully, a steep rock wall and narrow exposed arete.

	putting on crampons and sorting equipment before leaving the tunnel
	gently on to the steep ridge
	continue the descent to the snowfield
	finally out into open snow, and the traverse to the start
	past the south face with its huge granite towers
	across the Vallee Blanche snow field and finally the south-south-west ridge (the Cosmiques arete) comes into view (left of the picture)
	the ridge starts at around 3500 metres and is gentle at first just gaining height crossing gendarmes and towers
	soon it becomes a rock climb, this picture is of the third rock tower
	then fine open traverse of mixed ground this picture being taken at about 3800 meters
	superb (but extremely airy) views across to the cable car station, on the final rock section
	the summit of Mt. Blanc is many many hours walking away despite its close appearances the final meters of the ridge can be seen in the foreground
	Mt. Blanc from the cable car station this doubles up as both start and finish of a very fine route.