Planning to climb Mont Blanc? You might have to pay €15,000 to cover possible rescue and funeral costs

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“The municipality of Saint-Gervais plans to take measures adapted to the irresponsibility of some and the risks they make rescuers run,” he said, in a statement posted on Twitter.

#saintgervais #montblanc pic.twitter.com/dBOTZcdNG1

— Jean-Marc PEILLEX (@PEILLEX) August 3, 2022

The mayor said that the specified deposit of €15,000 would cover the “average cost of a rescue (€10,000) and the funeral costs of a victim (€5,000).”

“People want to climb with death in their backpacks,” he said, sharing that dozens of “pseudo-mountaineers” have ignored the warnings after local administration advised people to avoid the route due to heavy rockfall in mid-July. The ongoing intense heatwave has worsened the condition further.

Peillex shared that five Romanians had attempted to climb the peak wearing shorts, trainers, and straw hats and had to be turned back by mountain police.

“So let’s anticipate the cost of having to rescue them, and for their burial, because it’s unacceptable that French taxpayers should foot the bill,” he added.

The mountain can also be accessed from the Italian side through the ski resort town of Courmayeur. Describing Peillex’s deposit plan as “surreal”, Roberto Rota, mayor of Courmayeur, told the daily Corriere della Sera that “the mountain is not a property.”

“We, as administrators, can limit ourselves to reporting sub-optimal routes’ conditions, but asking for a deposit to climb to the top is surreal,” he said.

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