Mont Blanc in the French Alps is the highest peak in Europe. It is also the deadliest mountain, according
to researchers, on earth. For many years
Mont Blanc has had the highest annual death rate for climbers trying to reach
its peak. Experienced climbing companies
blame a rather laissez-faire attitude by Mont Blanc tour operators when it
comes to educating climbers on the risks and safety precautions prior to
ascent. It is widely accepted by most
European climbers that you have the possibility of dying when climbing Mont
Blanc and that is the level to which people are prepared to go up its
slopes. In 2008, 58 climbers were killed
climbing Mont Blanc alone compared to 25 people killed while climbing all of
America’s mountains in the same year.
Some climbers want Mont Blanc and other Euro Mountain adventure
providers to develop an American-style system that only allows climbers who
have reached certain skill levels to climb some of the more treacherous peaks. Today anyone, including people with no
training and little skill, is permitted to climb Mont Blanc.
The mountain is the main thoroughfare between Italy and the
rest of Europe and travel was made much easier with the seven-mile Mont Blanc Tunnel,
completed in 1957. In 1999 the tunnel
was the scene of a catastrophic fire that killed 39 people. The fire, began and fueled by a burning truckload
of margarine, spread rapidly with the help of ventilation and soaring
heat. The tunnel was closed for the next
three years so an investigation, fire suppression and accident prevention
measures could be installed. The most
anyone served in jail for the disaster was six months.
In 1946 an American B-17 Flying Fortress in flight from
Italy to England slammed into Mont Blanc killing all on board. The flight, made at night was done in a sky
black as pitch. The pilot simply never
saw Mont Blanc. A few months later in
1947 a team scaled Mont Blanc and found some of the crew’s remains. The remains were flown to America and buried
in a single grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Last fall, the remains of the aircraft’s
radioman were identified. Those remains
were of Polish-born Zoltan J. Dobovich who enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a
teenager and was sent to Europe. He
served with the 15th Troop Carrier Squadron. The day after Christmas this past year Sgt.
Dobovich was laid to rest in a veteran’s cemetery outside of his home city of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mont Blanc and the surrounding region offer breathtaking
views of cascading waterfalls and flower-filled meadows. Small villages and isolated chalets seem to
cling to the steep slopes. The rugged
Trient Gorge offers unique twists and winds along rocky cliffs. Countless tunnels and avalanche shelters dot
the landscape. The descent from the
peak provides rich, dark-green forests, eventually reaching the gently rolling
hillsides of the Rhône Valley. Once flat again, the neatly laid out vineyards
of Martigny offer solitude. And so it is
with nature: sometimes fury, sometimes serenity. Mont Blanc is true to nature.
Look for references to Mont Blanc during this year’s Tour de
France. As always, we ask that you visit
our website www.stickybottleteam.net, we have some cool news coming from Baltimore under Random Thoughts.
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| A view from the valley |
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| Tunnel Entrance |
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