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Mont Blanc mayor threatens to sue mountain climbers (again)

After suggesting that hikers should pay a 'funeral deposit' before climbing Mont Blanc, the local French mayor has again hit the headlines by threatening to sue climbers.

Mont Blanc mayor threatens to sue mountain climbers (again)
This aerial view of Mont Blanc (back L) amd the dome du Gouter (C) in France in 2019. (Photo by Eric Feferberg / AFP)

Jean-Marc Peillex mayor of the French village of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains has made headlines once more after threatening to file complaints against two people who climbed Mont Blanc and slept at its summit, calling them hurluberlus (fools).

This time, the Mayor has focused his attention on two hikers who posted a 45-minute YouTube video titled “DORMIR au SOMMET DU MONT BLANC : 9 jours d’expédition” (Sleeping at the top of Mont Blanc: 9 days of expedition) which detailed their journey of climbing and camping on the mountain.

Peillex told BFMTV on Monday that the climbers had create “bad buzz” by “[flouting] the law,” as all forms of camping throughout the Mont Blanc Natural Habitat Protection Area (APHN) are prohibited, according to a decree passed in October 2020. Failure to comply with the rule can lead to a year’s imprisonment and a fine of €150,000. 

The mayor said that the law is intended to protect Mont Blanc’s natural habitats, and that wild camping is only allowed in extreme cases or next to the Tête rousse refuge area. 

“They played with fire and they got burned,” the Mayor told the French news station, adding that it would now be up to the courts to respond.

According to Le Figaro, the two mountaineers said that they were aware that restrictions existed to protect the mountain, but that they did not realise there was a total ban on camping in place during the off-season.

I think I’ve heard the name Jean-Marc Peillex before?

Yes, you probably have – he’s no stranger to headlines.

Over the summer, Mayor Peillex warned visitors they might be climbing with “death in [their] backpack” after putting forward plans on social media to make climbers pay a €15,000 deposit to climb Mont Blanc via the Goûter route.

Pelleix explained on August 3rd that he arrived at the €15,000 because it corresponded with “€10,000 for the cost rescue, and €5,000 for the cost of a funeral” as it is “impermissible that the French taxpayer be the one to cover such costs.”

Saint-Gervais mayor Jean-Marc Peillex (L) poses on September 28, 2011 during the drilling operations to pump water out of the Tete Rousse glacier above the French Alps town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. (Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP)

Jean-Marc Peillex has fought against mass tourism on Mont Blanc for several years. In 2018, he requested that French gendarmes block several Latvian mountaineers from making the ascent with a large pole and a Latvian flag to commemorate the country’s independence, and last summer he shared a video warning people not to attempt climbing the mountain as it was “not the moment” and that the mountain was “angry.”

The mayor also wrote to President Emmanuel Macron in September 2022 to ask that he “act to fight against the over-visiting of natural areas.” 

Do others in the Alps agree with him?

Peillex’s statements can be polarising. Other mayors from towns in the Mont Blanc area have at times disagreed with the  Saint-Gervais’ mayor’s approach.

According to CNN, in August, Roberto Rota, the mayor of Courmayeur, on the Italian side of the mountain, told Corriere della Sera that “asking for a deposit to climb the mountain is surreal” in response to Perreix’ attempt to institute a €15,000 deposit to climb the Mont Blanc.

And most recently, Antoine Beis, an aide to the mayor of Chamonix, told BFMTV that Jean-Marc Peillex’s most recent comments constituted “dangerous democratic drift.”

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

How Paris’s Olympic carpool lanes will work 

Throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games periods, some 185km of lanes on roads around Paris will be reserved for event-related traffic – here’s what you need to know.

How Paris’s Olympic carpool lanes will work 

Between July 15th and September 11th, ‘Olympic lanes’ will be in use along certain stretches of key roads in and around Paris.

These lanes will be reserved for use by accredited vehicles to transport athletes, accredited journalists and official delegations, as well as emergency and security vehicles, cabs, ambulances and public transport.

READ ALSO Apps, reservations and flying taxis: What to know before visiting Paris this summer

The lanes will be activated on July 15, on the following roads:

  • A1 between Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Porte de la Chapelle, until September 11th;
  • A4 between Collégien and Porte de Bercy until August 13th, then from August 30th to September 8th;
  • A12 between Rocquencourt and Montigny le Bretonneux until August 13th, and again from August 27th to September 8th;
  • A13 between Porte Maillot and Rocquencourt until August 13th, then from August 27th to September 8th;
  • Boulevard périphérique, from Porte de Vanves to Porte de Bercy, via the north until August 13th, then from August 22th to September 11th;
  • Boulevard Circulaire (La Défense) until August 13th, then from August 22nd to September 11th;
  • Lanes on certain routes in Paris.

None of these roads will be closed – lanes along these routes that are not reserved for Olympic or Paralympic Games traffic are open to road users as usual.

The lanes in question will be signposted – signs, clearly marked with the words “Paris 2024”, will be in place from July 1st, and will be removed by the end of the day on September 15h. 

READ ALSO How to use Paris public transport during the Olympics

Who can use dedicated Olympic lanes?

Only vehicles and road users that have been properly accredited by the Organising Committee of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games can travel along these lanes during the periods indicated above. 

They include:

  • vehicles of accredited persons;
  • cabs;
  • public transport vehicles;
  • vehicles designed to facilitate the transport of people with reduced mobility;
  • and emergency and security vehicles.

READ ALSO Who needs a QR code to get around Paris during the Olympics

All other vehicles are prohibited from using these lanes throughout the Olympic Games period. Any vehicle circulating on an Olympic lane without having received prior authorisation is liable to a fine of €135 and possible further prosecution.

Road users without Olympic accreditation are advised to be aware of possible travel issues, as more vehicles are filtered into the other lanes. Therefore it would be wise to allow a little extra time for your journey if you are using one of the listed roads during the Games period.

An interactive map, showing routes with Olympic lanes is available here

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