Mont Blanc is to impose "permanent restrictions" on climbing Western Europe’s highest mountain via its busiest route in an attempt to reduce death and bottlenecks on the perilous final ascent.<\/p>\n
Starting next summer, the number of hikers allowed to tackle the Royal Route to the mountain\u2019s 15,780ft peak, used by three quarters of climbers, will be limited to 214 per day, according to local officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Twice that number have been trying to reach the top over the summer, some of them \u201cill-prepared thrill seekers\u201d with scant gear who undertake the climb without even booking a place in a refuge, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sixteen climbers have died so far this summer, most recently a week ago, with the heatwave increasing the risk of avalanches and rockfalls as glaciers melt. Although some treat the ascent as little more than a gentle climb, a section of the Go\u00fbter ridge near the top, is so dangerous that it is nicknamed the \u201ccorridor of death\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jean-Marc Peilleux, mayor of Saint-Gervais, who has been fighting for years to restrict the number of hikers, welcomed the decision by regional state authorities after a meeting with mountain police, the French mountaineering federation and guides.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to tell people wanting to climb Mont Blanc next summer: \u2018Watch out, it\u2019s no longer an open bar!’,\u201d he told the Telegraph, calling the decision a vindication of his \u201ccrusade to restore the mountain\u2019s nobility\u201d.<\/p>\n