Heights terrify me. And here's the Aiguille du Midi, or also known as the Needle of the South. It is home to the terrifying highest vertical ascent cable car in the world for three decades, and now they've got a glass box that hangs next to the peak. You can stand there.
The installation is called
Step Into the Void, and it is made up of five panes of super-strong glass—each containing three discrete sheets. They are held together by a C-shaped steel mechanism mounted to the rock face.
The closest ground to anyone standing there will be some 3,300 feet below, though it doesn't end there because Aiguille du Midi, which is part of the Mont Blanc massif, is 11,526 feet high.
Designed by French architect Pierre-Yves Chays, it took three years to complete and is part of a larger renovation project at the peak that includes the construction of a mountaineering museum. It will hold the title of the world's tallest museum when it's completed. [
Chamonix;
Guardian Image: Alexis Moro/AP.]