The Noir Gondola: Midnight Rides Above the Valley

The gondola runs on a schedule that does not appear in any timetable. Members are informed by a card, delivered the morning of, which contains only a time and the word “tonight.” Those who have received this card describe the experience of receiving it in terms that the Society's editorial committee finds excessive and has agreed to summarise as: pleasant surprise.

The Noir Gondola operates on the first full moon of each month from November through March, weather permitting. “Weather permitting” is doing considerable work in that sentence. The ride has been cancelled eleven times in the Society's recorded history. On three of those occasions, members had already assembled at the base station. They were offered the Sbagliato and sent back to the lodge, which most report was, in retrospect, equally good.

The view from the cabin — the valley below, the ridge above, everything in between in absolute silence — is the kind of thing that should not be competing with an interior.

The gondola itself is the original 1971 cabin, refitted once in 2004 with new upholstery and improved heating, and otherwise preserved in the understanding that a thing designed to ascend a mountain at night should carry some evidence of having done so before. The lighting inside is kept very low. This is partly for atmosphere and partly because the view from the cabin — the valley below, the ridge above, everything in between in absolute silence — is the kind of thing that should not be competing with an interior.

What happens at the top is not written about by those who go. This is not a rule. It is simply the result of people finding themselves, on their return, without adequate language. Several members have tried. One submitted a piece to this journal. It was very long and used the word “ineffable” three times. We returned it with notes.

The gondola returns at approximately one in the morning. A car waits. There is a flask of something warm. The driver does not ask questions.

Invitations are extended by the President's office. The criteria for selection are not public. Several members have asked, directly, how one gets on the list. The answer they receive — “one already is, or one isn't” — is either profoundly reassuring or mildly unsettling, depending entirely on which camp one finds oneself in.