Talk:Aiguille du Midi

Please check the License of the images! They are incomplete or missing. --Paddyez 21:37, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Seabhcán 22:19, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

There is more than just a café at the summit - there are three separate eating establishments of different levels of formality - a snack bar, a café, and a restaurant. 83.78.56.98 06:19, 16 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Fixed! (Only took 15 1/2 years!) Wigly Pigly (talk) 11:38, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

Translation
The infobox listed the translation of Aiguille du Midi as 'Needle of the South'. This contradicts the text of the article, which gives the translation 'Needle of Midday'. I'm sure the latter is correct, and have corrected the text in the infobox accordingly. Terraxos (talk) 01:04, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but as certain as you are, I think that's folk etymology and not the real thing. The word "midi" does mean noon in French; however, Midi (capitalized) is the French term for the south of France. Go over to the Français version of Wikipedia and look up Midi and see. Then open Google Earth and note that the Aiguille is some degrees southeast of Chamonix and therefore the sun would not be above the peak at noon. There are also other topographic features that have this word in their names, such as the Col du Midi, the Crêt du Midi, the Pointe du Midi, the Dent du Midi, the Rocher du Midi, Midi du Pont and the Pierre à Midi. In each case, the word means "south." 164.144.248.25 (talk) 22:07, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

"Needle of the Noon"? That's the most laughable thing I've ever heard? Embarrassing. And still like that years later. Wow, wikipedia's a mess! 76.15.69.27 (talk) 16:01, 4 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Also, the brochure referenced for the bizarre (completely invented) "name" section, says none of the things the section does! It's entirely made up by some schmo who had a year of high-school French. The Midi is a region of southern France. It is not "The South" and it is certainly not "Noon". All that stuff about the peak at noon is fiction invented by some Wikipedia writer! Embarrassing ! 76.15.69.27 (talk) 16:11, 4 February 2014 (UTC)


 * There has been some interesting guesswork gone into this article and its talk page. I have now removed irrelevant content and prioritised the rest, and given citation from a professional chamonix-based website as to the meaning of the name, which, if translation is important is 'needle of mid-day' or 'needle of noon'. Explaining regions of France seem best left to this talk page and certainly not to the first section of an article about an alpine mountain. Parkywiki (talk) 11:26, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

"Fast ascends to a height above 3000 m will frequently lead to headaches or other symptoms of altitude sickness with sensitive persons."
Dear Eric,

you undid my addition to the article with the comment: "rv random unencyclopedic interjection"

You might have a point there.

On the other hand I thought it reasonable to warn people that they might be subject to a headache when ascending with the cable car. Just so they know what to expect.

Do you have any suggestion where such a warning should rather be placed?

Maybe on Wikivoyage? In this case it would be a good idea to refer to the Wikivoyage entry from this article, though.

It there a simple way to do this? With a template maybe?

best regards,

KaiKemmann (talk) 02:19, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Hi Kai- I'm not too familiar with Wikivoyage, but I'm guessing that would be the better place to offer travel advice. I found this page that offers some template links, though no real guidance: Wikivoyage. For the wording, I'd suggest something more like: "Visitors should note that rapid ascent to an altitude above 3000 m frequently leads to..." or "Visitors should note that rapid ascent to an altitude above 3000 m can lead to..." (maybe with a reference?). Eric talk 11:53, 31 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your thoughts and your help with the wording.
 * Was this a suggestion for a Wikivoyage article or did you think the rephrased sentence could be added back to the article?
 * I just noticed that Wikivoyage does not have an article on the "Aiguille du Midi" yet.
 * But surprisingly the cable car to Aiguille du Midi is actually mentioned in their corresponding article on altitude sickness.
 * KaiKemmann (talk) 17:47, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Hi Kai- Yes, I was suggesting it for Wikivoyage, not the encyclopedia. Eric talk 20:15, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Doubt over origin of name
I propose to remove a statement suggesting that the stated meaning of the peak's name is "apocryphal" because it is WP:OPINION, and is not supported by any sources. How do other editors view this? My reasoning is that there are at least two locally-based Chamonix websites which support the stated suggestion. I don't think we should concern ourselves unduly with the original derivation of a name a couple of hundred or more years ago if we don't have the evidence to debate it. But, on balance, I do feel the insertion of an unsupported statement suggestion that its likely meaning is "apocryphal" pushes that balance firmly in the wrong direction, and is not in the spirit of an encyclopedia based on evidence. I can think of many geographic features where the name is suggestive, but not literal. Within the commune of Chamonix there are a number of churches, and if anyone cares to go to Les Praz de Chamonix, you can look absolutely due south and see the Midi's summit from one of its churches there. (See this Google street view) I don't proffer this as proof of the origin of the summit's name; just as reasoning for removing a strong and unsubstantiated suggestion that it is not. (And if you don't know which summit is which, the Midi is just left of the left-most branch of the bare tree beside the church). And here are two other views looking due south from modern day Chamonix centre, straight towards the Aiguille du Midi from a different church. https://goo.gl/maps/WkBQDg5XBG72 and https://goo.gl/maps/vjWVf2AVhqq. Nick Moyes (talk) 00:47, 1 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Exactly. The whole argument is pedantic and tedious and it should go.
 * KaiKemmann (talk) 01:50, 5 June 2017 (UTC)


 * Hello all- I removed the etymology assertions after doing some research. Nothing I found in my (not exhaustive) search convinced me that the name comes from anything other than a reference to the southerly direction as seen from Chamonix. The sources cited after the text I removed were both travel-promo websites, not convincing sources for etymology, methinks. In any case, no translator would come up with "Needle of the Mid-day" as the name in English. Maybe "Needle of Noon" or "Needle of the South", just as an explanatory literal translation. But there is no need to attempt a definitive translation of such a name. Eric talk 14:59, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Photo needs description
The photo in the third row, right, is lacking description. Can someone more knowledgeable than me please add. Wigly Pigly (talk) 11:33, 22 February 2023 (UTC)