Some 25,000 people attempt to scale Europe's tallest mountain every year - and their sometimes breathtaking amateurism is stoking anger among the local French community.
The matter came to a head last week when it emerged French officials had refused to airlift a Polish climber off Mont Blanc after he rang mountain rescue from the Refuge du Gouter at 3810m - the last stop before the summit - saying that he did not want to walk back "on his own steam".
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11292864
Haha amusing article, liked the bit about Richard Branson and the mayor at the end.
They won't rescue people in NZ, either, if there's enough reason to believe it's not an emergency. The Barker Hut trio was a classic high profile case of that.
PLBs muddy the water because the decision about whether to launch a rescue op is being made by someone who often isn't qualified to make it.
If you climb on the Swiss side of the alps then there is no free rescue. We used to joke that we would make sure we fell on the French or Italian side of the ridge when we were climbing.
The PGHM are fantastic, supposedly the busiest mountain rescue service in the world. I have seen them in action a few times. Actually most of their rescues are for hikers below the snow-line.
There is a good book about the the day to day activities of the Chamonix rescue service- well worth a read if you are interested in that sort of thing.
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Rescue-Chamonix-Busiest-Service/dp/1898573522
Yeah, this article brought to mind the Barker Hut debacle.
Mmmm can't help thinking that if they don't want it to be seen as an amusement park then they shouldn't build huts like the new Gouter. "Shelter" is not really the appropriate word.
The Barker Hut Trio will live on in legend.
for those not privy to the saga of Barker hut,
an account of the little episode can be found here for your information
http://www.softrock.co.nz/mg/index.php?page=99
Thanks @waynowski for putting that link up, gives it more context.
