2026 - August - Montenvers and Mer de Glace

The ride on the Montenvers cog railway and the subsequent glacier visit are certainly an experience, but also highly frightening.

Nowhere else is it so vividly demonstrated how far climate change has already progressed.

The ride on the old cog railway leads to France's largest glacier, the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice). From the mountain station, a cable car takes visitors down into the valley above the receding ice sea.

After the construction of this cable car in 1988, three (!) steps were sufficient at the end of the tour to access the glacier directly. Now, a stairway with well over 500 steps has had to be built leading down. Along the way, small information signs with dates are attached to the rock faces. They clearly show where the glacier's ice was located just a few years ago.

The progress of global warming could hardly be documented more clearly. Every climate change denier should take a trip here.

Now for the enjoyable part of this excursion. We had changeable weather that day, with thick clouds, some rain, and brief sunny spells. The weather conditions weren't suitable for a classic hike high into the mountains due to the potential for thunderstorms. In such a situation, the detour from Chamonix to the Mer de Glace is the perfect solution.

Access to the Montenvers rack railway (Chemin de fer du Montenvers) begins at Chamonix station on a slightly separate track. The railway was officially opened in 1908 and has served the current route continuously since May 1909. In its early years, it operated under steam until the line was fully electrified in 1954.

From 1961 onwards, several cable car systems were built successively to ease the arduous descent to the ice for visitors. The most modern system was opened to the public in early 2024 and officially inaugurated in spring 2025. The relatively short ride down is truly impressive. You gaze upon the bare, gray rock faces and immediately understand that only a short time ago, enormous masses of glaciers lay here.

In addition, the journey offers a fantastic panoramic view of the striking granite needles Les Drus and Les Grandes Jorasses.

Once at the bottom, the long staircase leading to the ice grotto awaits. In this fascinating ice world, water is now dripping from every corner, but it is still possible to walk through the interior of the glacier.

Incidentally, a hiking trail also leads back down into the valley from the cog railway's mountain station, alongside the tracks. If it hadn't started raining again, that would have been a nice option.

Although this excursion was quite expensive at €49.70 for adults, it was well worth the expense. It was a trip that left a lasting impression.