"They don't care, they don't care about us, the gendarmes, and that's why we decided to close..." Faced with the danger of death represented by numerous rock falls due to the drought on Mont -Blanc, the mayor of Saint-Gervais (Isère) announced the closure of the refuges of Goûter (120 places) and Tête rousse (74 places) as well as the base camp which authorizes between 40 and 50 camps.

"Today, we see mountaineers all day who go to the massif, permanently, as if we were at Disneyland or Parc Astérix", indignant Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais, commune of the summit of Mont Blanc.

He thus intends "to show that there is no more housing" on the ascent of the roof of Europe.

“Even though we had advised against the ascent, (Thursday) evening, 79 people were at the (Goûter) refuge”, he added.

Foretold disaster

This decision was taken because of the danger posed by the ascent of Mont-Blanc for several weeks given the drought, the heat wave period and the heavy rockfalls that this causes, according to the mayor of the town of 5,700 inhabitants.

Their growing number is an indicator of climate change.

“We are heading towards a disaster”, warns the city councilor, and “the passage of the Goûter corridor represents a real danger of death”.

Until September

While the ascent has been discouraged since mid-July, many Alpine people ignore the recommendations and go to the highest peak in Western Europe anyway.

In agreement with the guardians of the refuges, the president of the guides of Saint-Gervais and the prefecture, this measure will be in force until "the conditions return to normal", probably not before the beginning of September concludes the mayor saint-gervolain.

On Wednesday, Jean-Marc Peillex announced his intention to demand a deposit of 15,000 euros from mountaineers which would go against the recommendations, based on the average cost of a mountain rescue operation and the prices charged by the pumps. funeral, although he has no means of legally requesting it.

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