Rock tumbles down the canyon before the climbers’ eyes — “like Russian roulette.”

At Mont Blanc, a powerful rock fell into the valley in front of the climbers. A related video is going viral. This is one of the most dangerous routes in the Alps. And the danger grows every day.

Chamonix / Saint-Gervais – First you see a large stone crashing down a steep snow-covered side into the valley, then more stones hit the snow-free terrain, swirling dust. Finally, an avalanche of old snow crashes into the canyon, crashing rocks a few meters in front of the filmmaker’s lens. Camera work shows the person taking shelter behind a rock.

An avalanche of rock and snow rushes on a thrilling tour of Mont Blanc

A recent video recorded by climbers on the Grand Couloir in Montblanc (France) at 4,805 meters is causing a stir in the climbing scene and beyond. The Grand Couloir is a steep gully at the top of the Aiguille du Cotter at the foot of Mont Blanc at 3,340 meters. As a mountaineer, you have to cross this gully to get to the Tête-Rousse hut (3167 meters) to the Goûter hut (3835 meters), from where the Goûter route leads to Montblanc. It is considered the normal route of the highest mountain in Europe, over which the Italian border runs. On an average, about 130 alpinists cross it every day during the summer months.

Rockfalls, rockfalls and avalanches are routine at this point: “Every summer there are an average of 15 serious accidents, four of which are fatal,” says the German Alpine Association DAV website. When there is little or no snow on the face holding the loose surface rocks together, things explode. That is why this place is also called “Couloir de la Marte”, which means “corridor of death” or “channel of death”. The crossing has been compared to Russian roulette, which clearly illustrates the danger lurking there.

“Death Road” claims an average of 15 lives each year

“A chasm on one side, rocks falling down the slope on the other. With fear in your stomach, you go ahead and quickly finish the 100 meters on the Grand Couloir,” the Swiss Alpine Club SAC describes the situation. According to SAC, about 20,000 people who want to climb Mont Blanc pass the key point on the ascent route, which is notorious for severe rockfalls, every summer.

On the “passage of death”, half of the reported accidents occur between the Tête Rousse and Goûter huts, according to an accident study carried out jointly by the Alpine police of the French region of Savoy and the Petzl Foundation. The latter funds projects to prevent accidents in the mountains. A YouTube video taken three years ago illustrates the danger, showing a climber getting stuck on a rock while crossing.

In 2010, the foundation proposed digging a 180-meter-long tunnel that would bypass the dangerous cooler for one million Swiss francs. “There is no such thing as zero risk because the couloir is only a small part of the entire climb! But on the route between the two huts, which are known and heavily used around the world, we can think about how to improve safety,” says chairman Paul Betzel on the foundation’s website.

Into eternal snow with flip-flops? The mayor rejected a million-dollar tunnel to bypass the site

The idea did not inspire enthusiasm among Jean-Marc Bayleux, the mayor of the related municipality of Saint-Gervais. He has reached a limit. “If you build a tunnel, you change the problem and you’ll see people in flip-flops on Goûter Ridge,” he told SAC. Saint-Gervais’ mountain guides echo similar sentiments.

Reactions in Facebook When it comes to Mont Blanc mountain tours, two different worlds open up: “Terrible, the worst thing that can happen in the mountains,” writes one user. Another commented: “We play Russian roulette so we can tell people in the pub we were there.” Congratulations.” Climate change Do: “Mountains are collapsing everywhere. Unfortunately, with this unusual heat, the risks are increasing. In fact, last summer the zero degree threshold rose to 5,000 meters.

Risk taken into account: There is a heated debate about this in social networks

For others, the horror of Mont Blanc is natural: “I worked as a helicopter doctor for many years. Mountain always carries high and sometimes very high risk. But when we think of the greatest danger of all time, the car… we still get into it,” writes one doctor. Another user says: “If the human race had always been more careful, we would never have been on the moon, we would never have discovered undiscovered regions, and we would never have climbed the 14 highest mountains on the planet.” Hikers here do not allow themselves to be carried away by anything unexpected or sudden; As anyone who climbs here knows, when you reach this point you have to stop and wait for a gap between two descents. Then you continue straight without a break, and quickly cross the area without panicking.

Despite the risks, a man from Bavaria climbed Mont Blanc last year with two artificial legs. There were mountaineers in Austria in February He fell on a rock and was injured. Experts warn that this… The permafrost on the mountain peaks is at risk of melting rises.