The mayor of a French village at the foot of Mont Blanc wants climbers to deposit money before embarking on the dangerous climb.
If you want to climb Europe’s highest peak, you may have to dig deep into your pocket in the future. The mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, a commune at the foot of Mont Blanc, wants mountain enthusiasts to deposit €15,000 before the climb. Jean-Marc Peillex wants to cover rescue and burial costs if people die on the mountain, as the mayor posted on Twitter.
There are currently dozens of amateurs who want to climb the mountain and thus “want to have fun with the latest fashion game: This is Russian Roulette!“, as Peillex writes in the statement on Twitter. Hot weather and falling rocks make the ascent even more difficult. Only on July 30 did the police officers have to move in a helicopter. They used a megaphone to ask a group from Romania to turn and stop the climb, according to Peillex.
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In Cormayeur, also a municipality on Mont Blanc, but on the Italian side, the proposal does not generate enough enthusiasm. Mayor Roberto Rota called the plan to demand a payment “surreal”, reports CNN. The mountain is not property and municipalities can only inform about dangerous routes and block paths if there is an objective risk, as he told the newspaper “Corriere della Sera”.
Browsing account dob Time05.08.2022, 16:06| Act: 05.08.2022, 17:58