French gendarmes to patrol Mont Blanc

A snowHead

But not to deal with Skiers it's the hikers they are after.......

A snowHead

This doesn't surprise me... which is a shame.

But it's interesting that the whole mountain code usually goes along the idea of 'Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints' I've done long distance hikes in the past and NEVER left any of my rubbish up the mountain, even taking down used loo roll!

The French are notoriously arrogant when it comes to conservation, yes the authorities make all the right noises, but the public are a different matter entirely! I've been through the Mercantour national park, where you're not allowed to walk off the track, use walking poles or even touch rocks because of the level of erosion and environmental effects... but the French STILL trek 'off-piste' !

Of course I'm not saying it's just French, but I know from my own personal experience they always see these problems as the result of someone elses behaviour - not their own!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I bet all nationalities of climbers leave their crap up the mountain! Actually, walking in the French Alps in summer (just casual walking, not high mountain trekking) I've been pleasantly surprised by how little litter people seem to leave, though there are plenty of walkers. Rather less than one would expect to find in a similarly busy bit of countryside in the UK, actually. Come to that, I was saying just yesterday, having been walking along some coastal beauty spots in Liguria, that Italians seem to drop less litter than Brits - the streets of Genoa are mostly not bad, either. Certainly a heap better than Havant!

I wonder what the fine will be for pooing on Mont Blanc?

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Yes, generally the lower mountains are well looked after and I often don't find any litter either. But it's a different story when hiking for several days carrying a reasonably heavy pack. Every gram comes into play and I've often HAD to make decisions about how much water I should carry... often not carrying enough water because it's too heavy (1 litre weighs approx. 1 kilo) opting to carry 1 1/2 litres on top of 8 kilos (not as heavy as some, but heavy enough when climbing) in my pack in temperatures in excess of 37 degrees C and hiking for 8 hours above 2400m... But that's a decision I made as a responsible and serious hiker/trekker.

So in short it doesn't shock me that unfortunately there are people out there who think dumping their litter is an easy route out of having to carry the weight... I normally carry dried pasta and a cup a soup with a bit of saucisson and cheese, with some baguette... If you carry these in individual freezer bags there's no waste that weighs anything...

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Filthyphil30k,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

musher, haha.

After all it is free

Or the American solution on Mt Whitney, the WAG bag.
http://www.mount-whitney.com/hiking_backpacking_mt_whitney/mt_whitney_wag_bags.php

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

When you're multi-day climbing big walls in the US then you are obliged to carry a 's**t tube' and bring it down with you after the climb.

Prior to this it was always risky approaching the foot of a big wall especially in the early morning.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Also apparently the amount of refuse left in the Goûter Hut (and all the rest I imagine) is a real problem. Your supposed to take everything with you but staff find stashes of refuse in the most imaginative hiding places.

Help!!

French gendarmes to patrol Mont Blanc

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