- Title: "Respect Mont Blanc!": locals fight back against careless climbers
- Date: 1st October 2019
- Summary: MONT BLANC, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF THE "BRIGADE BLANCHE" CHRISTOPHE DELACHAT AND PHILIPPE GODARD CHECKING CLIMBERS' BOOKINGS AT TERMINUS OF TRAM AT THE NID D'AIGLE (2,380 METRE ALTITUDE) BEFORE THEY START THE ASCENT DELACHAT CHECKING CLIMBERS' NAMES AGAINST LIST LIST CLIMBERS STARTING THE ASCENT (SOUNDBITE) (French) "BRIGADE BLANCHE" MEMBER AND FORMER HIGH MOUNTAIN GUIDE, CHRISTOPHE DELACHAT, SAYING: "Mountaineers were climbing anywhere, anyhow, they were camping around the refuges, and there were more than 260 people every day on Mont Blanc. So we had to do something, also because of the human waste. When they'd climb they would do their business outside, you'd walk through their excrement to get to Mont Blanc, it was dirty, really dirty, they would not take anything back down." CLIMBERS HAVING PICNIC AT BOTTOM OF ASCENT TOWARDS TETE ROUSSE AND GOUTER REFUGES, CLIMBERS PASSING BY CLIMBER HAVING A PICNIC REFUGE DU GOUTER SEEN ON THE RIDGE OF THE MOUNTAIN HIGH MOUNTAIN GUIDE, BERTRAND ROCHE, KNOWN AS "ZEBULON", WITH CLIENTS APPROACHING DELACHAT DELACHAT CHECKING BOOKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH CLIMBER, SERGE LEBOUCHER, SAYING: "It is good for the environment, it is good for the site, it adds value, helps to protect the environment and stop it from becoming a highway for tourists who mess about." CLIMBERS ON MOUNTAIN (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH HIGH MOUNTAIN GUIDE, BERTRAND ROCHE, KNOWN AS "ZEBULON", SAYING: "There is such a craze for this summit that we have now to live with these new rules, and sometimes it is a bit too much, we would like for the mountain to be more of a free space." CLIMBER'S LEGS AND FEET CLIMBERS WALKING TOWARDS MOUNTAIN POLISH CLIMBER PAVEL STASTNY BEING CHECKED BY "BRIGADE BLANCHE" DELACHAT'S EYES STASTNY'S SHOES (SOUNDBITE) (French) "BRIGADE BLANCHE" MEMBER AND FORMER HIGH MOUNTAIN GUIDE, CHRISTOPHE DELACHAT, SAYING: "A guide who just came back down, a friend, just told me that he was on the Arete des Bosses with two clients when he saw a French mountaineer who was all alone and exhausted. He couldn't even walk anymore. My friend had to rope him up to him because he was afraid he might fall on them during the descent. Not only did he save his life, he also brought him back to safety to the refuge so he could rest. What are these people doing here, at these altitudes?" STASTNY'S LEGS / STASTNY LEAVING AND WALKING TOWARDS THE MOUNTAIN (SOUNDBITE) (French) "BRIGADE BLANCHE" MEMBER AND FORMER HIGH MOUNTAIN GUIDE, CHRISTOPHE DELACHAT, SAYING: "Mont Blanc deserves better, it deserves respect, great respect. You have to respect this mountain and climb it only if you're physically able." VIEW OF AIGUILLE DU MIDI PEAK SAINT GERVAIS LES BAINS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) TOWN HALL IN TOWN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MONT BLANC TRAILS VARIOUS OF MAYOR OF SAINT GERVAIS LES BAINS, JEAN-MARC PEILLEX, SITTING AT HIS DESK, LOOKING AT HIS COMPUTER
- Embargoed: 15th October 2019 10:59
- Keywords: France Mont Blanc pollution
- Location: SAINT GERVAIS LES BAINS/MOUNT BLANC, FRANCE
- City: SAINT GERVAIS LES BAINS/MOUNT BLANC, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Pollution,Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA002AZ9L5JB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: PLEASE NOTE STORY NUMBER 6014 FRANCE-ENVIRONMENT/MONTBLANC WHICH WAS PLAYED OUT ON THE 14TH OF SEPTEMBER 2019 HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN BECAUSE REUTERS DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A PHOTO IN EDIT - PLEASE MAKE NO FURTHER USE OF 6014 AND USE 2049-CORRECTION-FRANCE-ENVIRONMENT/MONTBLANC INSTEAD
The terminus of the Mont Blanc tram, the "Nid d'aigle" ("Eagle's Nest"), at an altitude of 2,380 metres.
As climbers and hikers prepare their bags ex-mountain guide Christophe Delachat and Phillipe Godard, a former member of the Gendarmerie High Mountain unit, get ready to carry out checks.
The pair belong to the newly-created "brigade blanche", set up at the start of the summer hiking season and in charge of verifying that everyone wanting to climb western Europe's highest mountain via the "royal route" has a nominative booking at one of the huts along the way.
Anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people from all around the world climb Mont Blanc every year between May and September, 75 percent of them via the "royal route".
Between 200 and 300 people a day flood the mountain's often technically challenging narrow paths leading to overcrowding at the huts with some climbers camping outside the official refuges.
With rockfalls - worsened by climate change - pollution and rude behaviour from some climbers the 2018 season is remembered locally as a nightmare.
"When they'd climb they would do their business outside, you'd walk through their excrement to get to Mont Blanc, it was dirty, really dirty, they would not take anything back down," Delachat said on Thursday (September 12).
The new booking rules have broadly been well received, though some independent guides have pointed to logistical difficulties involved in last-minute booking with so many trips dependent on the changeable weather.
Climbers are only required to have a booking. The "brigade blanche" does not have any coercive power. Whenever they see a would-be mountaineer without the necessary equipment -- sneakers in place of proper climbing shoes, not the right ropes -- or planning on climbing alone, they can only try and convince them to get the tram back down. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Some climbers take this relative freedom to extremes. In August, the brigade could do nothing to stop a British man carrying a 26 kilo rowing machine to the top. Exhausted, the former commando was not able to bring it back down and left it at 4,362 metres.
On September 8, a Russian man tried to make the climb with his 10-year old son in the midst of a storm. The brigade managed to change his mind.
In June, a group of Swiss visitors landed on Mont Blanc in a small plane and they face a mere 38 euro fine.
Such incidents have angered local mayor Jean-Marc Peillex, who has long fought to have stricter regulation in place on Mont Blanc and who created the "Brigade Blanche" which he says has been successful so far.
He blames consumerism fuelled by social networks for increasing disrespect on the mountain and urges the authorities to enable sanctions, even suggesting the mountain become accessible only to proven mountaineers above a certain altitude.
"We will have to change our behaviour because of the climate change we are already witnessing… We know we mustn't make things worse. Defiling the mountain further will not be tolerated," he said.
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