Former U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from injuries in a mass shooting last year, has ventured into the French Alps.

Officials at the European Center for Nuclear Research said Tuesday the outing by Giffords, her astronaut husband Mark Kelly and his daughter Claire was organized as part of a visit to CERN outside Geneva.

Giffords, who held an Arizona seat in Congress for more than four years, rode a cable car Monday up the 3,842-meter (12,605-foot) Aiguille du Midi outside Chamonix, France.

Giffords gave up her seat to focus on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head during a Jan. 8, 2011, rampage that left six dead and 13 wounded.

CERN will host a meeting Wednesday of astronauts who carried equipment designed at CERN to the International Space Station.