Imagine standing, actually floating, up in the French Alps. Step into a glass box that hangs over the daring void next to the peak.
The “Step into the Void” is a glass room built around a metal frame. Three glass walls, floor and ceiling panels, allow visitors to control their vertigo and experience 1035 meters of space under their feet in total safety! Admire the views from a dramatic perspective! Anyone with vertigo can step in, assured.
Each of these glass panels is custom built to the highest standards for safety and clarity. The five glass panels (12mm thick) consist of three layers of glass binded together. The structure can withstand winds of more than 220km/ h and a maximum temperature of 60°.
The construction has been designed by Pierre-Yves Chays. This type of installation is being used more and more frequently across Europe and the US. The “Step into the Void” was inspired by the “Skywalk”, the huge glass walkway overlooking the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona.
Installed on the uppermost terrace of the Aiguille du Midi (3842m), “Step into the Void” is a tourist attraction owned and operated by the CMB. It can be reached in almost 20 min by The Aiguille du Midi cable car. The summit of Aiguille du Midi (3842m) is the closest you can get to Mont-Blanc without a pair of crampons. It is the starting point for the ascent of Mont-Blanc to the Three-Mont-Blanc Route and many other sports such as off piste skiing in the winter season, or hiking, and paragliding in the summer/autumn seasons.
The Aiguille du Midi attracts every year thousands of tourists. To improve the experience of the visitors, the CMB began in 2011 an ambitious project that includes a full rehabilitation of the location. The “Step into the Void” is part of this project, estimated at 2.1 million euros. An alpinism memorabilia, a mountaineering museum and an ice-cave are to be set.
