Le Brévent at sunset

Le Brévent rises on the north-west side of the valley, opposite the massif, and a two-stage lift from Chamonix reaches its summit at 2,525 metres. From the top the view is head-on: the whole south wall of the valley, the Aiguilles, the Mer de Glace and Mont Blanc itself filling the frame, with the town four hundred metres of vertical below.

What makes it the sunset location rather than Montenvers or the Aiguille du Midi is orientation. Standing on Le Brévent, the sun sets behind you and the massif opposite takes the last direct light — alpenglow across the entire skyline, pink on the snowfields, while everything at your feet drops into shadow. That is a photograph you cannot take from the other side of the valley.

The summit terraces and the rocky ground around them give plenty of clean positions, and the Planpraz mid-station is a softer alternative at 2,000 metres with grass, a broad terrace and the same view. In summer the meadows around Planpraz are full of wildflowers; in winter the whole thing is a ski area, which changes the etiquette but not the view.

Practical and important: the lift has published closing times, and the last descent is usually well before dark — this is the single thing that ruins sunset sessions here. Check the last lift down for your date, and if it closes before the light, either plan for the last hour of sun rather than sunset itself or arrange the descent another way. It is cold and windy at the summit even in summer, so bring layers, and the ground is loose rock and snow patches, not a path.