Skyway Monte Bianco, Aerial tramway in Courmayeur, Italy.
Skyway Monte Bianco is a cable car in Courmayeur in the Italian Aosta Valley, ascending over 2,152 vertical meters to Punta Helbronner. The route runs through three stations with rotating cabins that offer views over the glaciers and peaks of the Mont Blanc massif.
Construction began in March 2011 and lasted four years, opening on 23 June 2015 at a cost of 110 million euros. The project replaced the old Funivia Monte Bianco and rebuilt the Pointe Helbronner terminus. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi attended the opening and received a golden ice axe from regional president Augusto Rollandin.
The name references both the sky route and the white mountain, as Mont Blanc is known in Italian. Visitors can view exhibits on mountain exploration and glaciology at the stations, showing how climbers lived in earlier times.
The journey can be interrupted at the middle station to visit the botanical garden or enjoy the view. Warm clothing is necessary even in summer, as temperatures at the top are much lower than in the valley.
The top station's tunnel and lift shaft were excavated without explosives: workers drilled 40 cm holes by raise boring to anchor the station into the rock. The 5 m wide shaft descends about 70 m and its base holds fire-fighting water tanks. A permanent exhibition displays 150 crystals from the Mont Blanc massif, and a bookshop at 3,466 m claims the record as Europe's highest.
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