Open fissures, rock falls like refrigerators “. This year, marked by drought and heat waves, makes access to many of the Alps’ iconic peaks, such as Mont Cervin and Mont Blanc, particularly difficult. ” We usually see such closures earlier in August. And there they started in late June, early July said the general secretary of the Swiss Association of Mountain Guides, Pierre Mattei.
Tour guides, who usually transport thousands of enthusiasts to Europe’s highest peaks every year, have decided to no longer take some routes for the ascent of Mont Blanc. Decision ” not easy to take “but necessary” particularly fine conditions in recent weeks due to a significant increase in temperature “The Italian Alpine Guides explained on their Facebook page this week. None of the seven routes to the summit, 4,807 meters, are officially closed, but access conditions have deteriorated so much in late July that only the most experienced climbers can still reach it, according to mountain experts.
It’s about the lack of snow in winter, which in many places at high altitude exposes vast areas of grayish bare glaciers, even yellowish, where sand dust from the Sahara has accumulated in winter, and brittle with broken bones. The rest did the heat, causing the fragile snow bridges to melt, which make it possible to cross crevasses and lead to landslides.
“we’ll do that later”
In Chamonix, at the foot of the white giant, the season is in full swing and tourists flock to the top of the Aiguille du Midi (3,842 meters), where they reach the magic of thousands of cable cars every day. But there, in a small ice-carved cave that serves as a dressing room and starting point for climbers for many mountain races, including the Vallée Blanche or Mont Blanc en route to the “three Monts”, they are quite short of putting on/taking off their crampons in late July.
Among them, Scotsman Evan Warden and his 14-year-old son David came for a walk on the glacier below the Egilly River. They found conditions there. terrible “:” everywhere we walked, rocks kept falling and crevasses kept opening “, explains the young lad who trained in the mountains of Scotland on his first visit to the Alps. Both originally hoped to climb Mont Blanc, but abandoned this project. too risky “. ” Maybe next year… He’ll be here tomorrow, next month and next year. He won’t move the father philosophizes as he wraps his rope neatly around his shoulders.
A couple in their forties from Norway, Monika and Marten Anthew, also came into contact with the mythical giant after “ three years of waiting “they were reserved” today or tomorrow With the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix, laments Martyn. ” The tour guide sent us an email and the Mont Blanc race was canceled due to weather. I think the guides know the area and the conditions. Good for us, we can do it later “, – scolds the woman.
Cancellations are cumulative
The guide companies of Chamonix and Saint-Gervais announced in mid-July the temporary suspension of ascents of the “normal” Gouter route to Mont Blanc due to rockfalls down the Gouter Pass, also known as the “death row”. Entry remains open to independent guides.
Very high temperatures recently have destabilized the mountain, says Noé Verite, caretaker of the Cosmiques refuge on another route, Trois Monts. He says he recently recorded 6 degrees at midnight in his shelter at 3,613 meters above sea level. That night again, the lack of cooling forced all the ascent candidates who had left the Cosmiques, he explains. ” We see conditions getting worse day by day “, he notes. July is usually peak season for him, but the cancellations are piling up.
The normal route is affected by large rockfalls. like refrigerators “. Others like ” that Innominata They are still used, but due to their difficulty, they are reserved for the arch minority, he emphasizes. Currently only one ten to twenty people a day, more specialists “Get to the top of Mont Blanc against 100 to 120 people in normal times,” estimates Olivier Grebert, president of the Chamonix guide company.
Canceled races are postponed, compensated or redirected to other routes, and the Company takes the opportunity to provide a little education for those who, for example, want to climb the summit. on the occasion of their 40th anniversary “. ” This climb should be part of a mountaineering career – explains Mr. Grebert. Mont Blanc sometimes has a reputation for being an easy climb, but that is not the case, especially this year “.
“We’re going to set a record”
Guides in Switzerland also refused to climb the famous Yunfrau. They also advised against following routes on the Italian and Swiss sides of Switzerland’s iconic mountain, the Matterhorn. The measures are a blow after two difficult seasons marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Ezio Marlier, president of Italy’s Aosta Valley Guide Association. ” After two almost completely empty seasons, it is not easy to make the decision to stop working “, he says. But he regrets that too many people are canceling their vacations, while some routes remain feasible. ” We have the opportunity to do many other things, but people who want Mont Blanc, they want Mont Blanc “.
Accessing glaciers that are melting at an accelerated rate this year also carries risks. ” The glaciers are currently in the state typically found in late summer or later Andreas Linsbauer, a glaciologist at the University of Zurich, warns. sure we will set a record “.
dangerous glaciers
The successive heat waves that have plagued Europe since May have finally accelerated the melting of the glaciers, making them unstable. As in Italy, where a huge block of the Marmolada Glacier collapsed in July, a tragedy that left eleven dead. The glacier had weakened due to global warming, as well as record temperatures in Italy this year, 10°C on top of Marmolada the day before the disaster. High temperatures accelerated its melting, and water accumulated under the ice cap, making it unstable.
For Milne Jacquemart, a glacier specialist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the collapse of the huge block of the Marmolada glacier is still unknown. ” But in general, the more the waters melt, the more complicated and dangerous the situation becomes. “. Pierre Mathieu also emphasized that ” these pockets of water, in very good weather, during very hot temperatures, present an additional danger because it is not visible; “. But he remains confident, believing that the guides will find alternative routes. Flexibility is truly the DNA of a mountain guide…and adaptability. The mountain decides. Not the person. »
Source: Le Figaro
