“Mountaineers are recommended to postpone their ascent, that is to say, to listen to the mountain, not to want to be stronger than nature”, explains Friday July 15 on franceinfo Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie). The prefecture of the department calls for vigilance on the normal access route to Mont-Blanc, known as “of snack”because of the dangers caused by the drought that the department has been experiencing for several weeks.
“We have significant rockfalls”says Jean-Marc Peillex who welcomes the “very cautious” decision of the guide companies of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc who temporarily suspend the ascent of Mont-Blanc by the “Goûter” route. .
The recommendation issued by the town hall and the prefecture “is not an obligation”, specifies the elected official. “In nature, if we forbid going to a place, the day we re-authorise, that would mean that there is no longer any risk. However, in the mountains, in particular on this Mont-Blanc route , we can never guarantee that there will not be a rockfall“, justifies Jean-Marc Peillex.
“If it becomes really very dangerous, we will close the Goûter refuge, that is to say that there will no longer be this possibility for mountaineers to stop there and sleep there.”
Jean-Marc Peillexat franceinfo
“We have to adapt our practices to nature”, explains the chosen one. During the summer, according to him, “between 250 and 300 people” climb every day.
“Perhaps, in five years, we will no longer do Mont-Blanc, or perhaps only in May or June”, imagine Jean-Marc Peillex. He explains that “changes in climate” make the ascent more dangerous. “For example, there is less precipitation, less snowfall and that is why a crevasse opened on the Bosses ridge this year, which makes the ascent even more complicated.”
Jean-Marc Peillex also notes that certain “urban” mountaineers, who, according to him, do not have “knowledge of the mountainattempt the ascent of Mont-Blanc “at all costs”. “If they decided to do it on July 15, whatever the conditions, they do Mont-Blanc on July 15, whereas a mountaineer does a mountain race when the mountain allows him and when himself can do it.”
The mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains also denounces the behavior of certain users who “do anything”. “We had an Englishman who went up with a rower, we had Latvians who went up with a mast. We had Zaz who did a concert”, list the chosen one. “Mont-Blanc has been consumed. Well, stop!”, proclaims Jean-Marc Peillex.
To prevent these dangerous behaviors, an order for the protection of natural habitats was issued by the Haute-Savoie prefecture in 2020, “to say what we have the right to do in this Mont-Blanc site”says Jean-Marc Peillex.
Source: France TV Info
