Alps Cable Car showdown: Aiguille du midi vs. Skyway Monte Bianco

Has the cablecar line to Pointe Helbronner been rebuilt and re-opened? It was severely damaged by the winter storms in January 2018 and was not running at all when we were in Chamonix last August. I cannot find any information about it being re-opened. I thought our Tour du Mont Blanc guide said it could take years to re-build it.

http://www.the-ski-guru.com/2018/02/01/the-panoramic-mont-blanc-lift-that-connected-aiguille-du-midi-with-punta-helbronner-has-fallen-down-and-will-be-closed-this-coming-summer/

Well, that is mildly terrifying. Thanks for that update! Upon further research, this article claims that section may reopen this Spring, but, I try not to be among the first people to test out risky marvels of engineering. That does easily rule out the full Alps traverse!

That said, Skyway Monte Bianco and the Chamonix to Aguille du Midi remain viable options that I must choose between.

That is one of the most thorough questions I have ever read. You clearly are an overachiever.

It took me 3 trips to Chamonix to finally take the trip across the mountains. Depending upon when you go, the weather is the problem. Having never taken the Skyway Monte Bianco, I offer the following. The Aguille Du Midi is not to be missed. The gondola trip from there to Helbronner was chilling, and not just because you are hanging there above the snow--it is literally the scariest gondola ride I have ever been on. Helbronner is a bar, and the barista made me a decent doppio (caffe corretto, of course) while I watched an Italian commercial being filmed.

When I go back, I shall try to leave Chamonix by cable car to Aguille du Midi, and then transfer to gondola to Helbronner, and then transfer to the Skyway Monte Bianco for the trip down into Courmayeur with a bus connection into Aosta. If I achieve that, I will have traveled across the Alps by wire. The Mont Blanc tunnel is really depressing.

I have heard about the damage, and you will need to check that because that will dictate your actions. We didn't see any need to pre-purchase tickets but we left really early in the morning from our Chamonix hotel.

I took the trip to Aiguille du Midi while on the Best of Eastern France trip a few years back and the Skyway Monte Bianchi last October. The cableway to the ADM from Hellbronner was not operating at that time. Both offer spectacular views and very different experiences. The line going up the ADM is a traditional suspended gondola. The Skyway offers modern cabins with panoramic windows and they rotate as they travel up and down the mountain. I would have loved to make the crossing from one to the other. I think going round trip over the top would ba a unique experience but I don’t think the cost is worth it. If it were up to me, I would ride up to the top from Chamonix and descend on the Skyway.

Another warning: The day I went the top of the Hellbronner it was totally socked in by clouds. You were told this before buying tickets. I still went to the top and I feel it was worth it!

Here’s a link to a short video of the descent from
Pointe Hellbronner to the midway point.

Way back in 1989, I worked for Michelin Tire Corp ( a french company) and had occasion to visit France several times to work on large engineering projects. On one such trip to Lyon for several weeks, my group decided to visit Chamonix over the weekend, led by our intrepid guide Bernard Papin. Of course we took the Teleferique to Aiguille du Midi, which was quite spectacular. At the top, Bernard led us to the gondolas which cross the Geant glacier to Hellbronner. As another commenter mentioned, this was the most terrifying gondola ride I've ever taken! At that time I was a total nube when it came to anything mountain related, and did not know what to expect. These little metal boxes appeared to be about a hundred years old, and nobody warned me about how much they would bounce!

Our guide Bernard could see me white knuckling, which he found pretty amusing. So he pulled out his little camcorder (late 80's, remember) and began filming me. Just for grins, he decided to reassure me with this: "Relax, David, they almost never have accidents on this thing." ALMOST NEVER?!?!? Obviously when I learned that very cableway crashed to the ground in 2018, I couldn't help but be reminded of his irony :-/

Having since done both several times, I recommend the R/T on Monte Bianco Skyway, then drive to Cham - or better yet forget about Chamonix and spend your afternoon in the acque terme in Pre St Didier nearby Courmayeur. Eat some Raclette and drink some fine Val d'Aosta white wine. Che dolce vita!

Just my personal opinion...

1) If we must choose between one or the other, is either Skyway Monte
Bianco or Aiguille du Midi better than the other (in terms of views
and overall experience)?

Midi has the better view of Mont Blanc (aka Monte Bianco) than Hellbronner, with much more dramatic climbing activity occuring right outside the doors and patios.

2) If you are on team Aiguille du Midi, is it worth the extra cost to
also go to Pointe Helbronner (63 Euro R/T to AdM only vs. 94 Euro R/T
to Pointe Helbronner)?

The ride over the glaciers is one of the most scenic rides in the world. It reopened on June 30th - see https://www.montblancnaturalresort.com/en/panoramic-mont-blanc. There is not much need to go down on the other side unless you have other plans down there. From Aosta, I recommend going up in Courmayeur and taking the round trip to Midi.

By the way, the rotating Skyway is featured in Kingsman 2, with Hellbronner as a villian's lair.

More troubling than it collapsing under a winter snowstorm (not too surprising) is when it got stuck due to wind a few year ago, leaving passengers stranded overnight. But, that probably won't happen again while you're on it.