In reply to dutybooty: I asked about the Helbronner two days ago at the ticket office at the bottom of the Midi. My french might be wrong but I'm fairly sure that the multipass would cover the cost of the midi, which would make the Helbronner 28 euros as a return. I don't know if there's an alpinist rate because i think the guy thought we were tourists looking for a simple return. The problem at the minute is that it's having work done on it at the lift station, so generally for tourists the cars don't open at all and simply go into the station and back. Apparently there are two 'alpinist' times though, during which the cars will open and you can get out. These are at 7-730am and 3:20-3:50pm, or something similar. I hope that's some use, although as I say, my french could be iffy so it might be worth checking some things like alpinist rates or the times that the cars open.
