In defense of mountains, the world over
Carlo Aberto Pinelli Interviewed by The Express tribune in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: A new course conducted by foreign trainers this summer promises to impart training on all aspects of mountaineering to people hoping to become instructors or guides.
In an exclusive interview, Italian mountaineer Professor Carlo Alberto Pinelli said the programme would provide opportunities for people in Gilgit-Baltistan and revive the traditions of trekking and mountaineering.
Some 25 people have been selected for the first batch, including three are from Afghanistan. Pinelli said four women had been selected to become instructors and trekking leaders. “I was surprised to see many women turn up, even women in their 40s, to join the training programme.”
Many smaller mountains are rocky and require rock climbing skills, Pinelli stated. “One must know the geography and geology of these mountains, how to deal with altitude sickness and foreigners, how to navigate using a compass, map reading and psychological insights.” Navigating ice, rocks and snow, and the proper use of safety measures, will also be taught, he added.
Pinelli has been visiting Pakistan since the 1950s. Reminiscing about the good old times, he said that Pakistan was a great tourist spot and many foreigners would come here for trekking. “There are some wonderful challenging peaks in Pakistan. From Shimshal to the Chinese border, there are about 50 peaks between 6,000 and 6,500 metres high that have yet to be conquered.”
The mountaineer was of the view that foreigners were hesitant to travel to restive areas. “For us the Himalayas imply purity, untouched by humans,” he stated. Speaking of Swat, he said the peaks were perfect for local mountaineers, but even Chitral was out of bounds now. However, locals are now becoming more aware of ecological hazards and they don’t litter at all, he added.
Mountain Wilderness, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the preservation of mountain areas, has a worldwide reach with representatives on all continents. Its Pakistan chapter is the only one in Asia that will work to train people in mountaineering. The course will begin on August 16 in Shimshal.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2013.
Is this the end of the saga… The new Goûter Hut in the Mont-Blanc, one of the highest in Europe, should be allowed to open by the end of the week, after receiving a favorable opinion from the Safety Commission, as was learned from the prefecture and the city of Saint-Gervais (Haute-Savoie).
Perched at 3,835 meters above sea level, this ovoid and futuristic architecture, has been a visited Tuesday, after that the sub-departmental security commission has issued a favorable opinion on its opening, said the prefecture Tuesday in a statement.
“On the basis of this notice the mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains can now give an opening order,” said the prefecture in this release.
Contacted by AFP, the mayor of Saint-Gervais, Jean-Marc Peillex said that he would take the decision “before the end of the week.”
“There’s no hurry. Nobody Mont Blanc goes to the top right now. We are still in almost winter conditions,” he said. According to the mayor, only twenty mountaineers attempted to climb Mont Blanc by the Gouter hut Tuesday against more than 200 on an average day during peak season (June 15 to September 15).
The normal way where the Goûter Hut is located is the busiest route of the Mont Blanc ascent .
Showcase of the French Alps, this refuge was originally expected to open in early summer 2012 and to replace the old building now obsolete.
For several reasons its opening was postponed a few times.
At a cost of 7 million euros, it should work based on renewable energy (solar, biomass) and to use innovative technologies (snow melter, wastewater treatment).
PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
OF THE ALPINE CONVENTION
PRESS RELEASE
10.6.2013 – the Alps are closer to the political heart of Europe: the Council of the European Union, supported by the European Parliament finally ratified the Alpine Convention’s Transport Protocol, approving a proposal by the Commission of 2008. This ratification has an enormous political significance for the Alps since the Alpine Convention officially becomes a priority of the EU policy on transport. This relates not only to the continued financial support to Transeuropean Railway Corridors but to all measures which contribute to reducing the environmental impact of transport and optimize mobility through and within the Alps.
The Secretary General of the Alpine Convention, Marco Onida, who has been personally lobbying for the ratification process for many years, expresses “great satisfaction for this decision, which follows of a few months the ratification by Italy”. Onida points to the fact that the “key role played by the Alps is openly recognized in the European transport policy” and underlines the “important support by Mr. Pat Cox, coordinator of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Railway axis Berlin-Palermo, who contributed decisively to the progress towards the ratification.”
The Protocol is a step towards an improved international coordination and management of trans-alpine transport; it strongly supports modal shift, in particular by promoting alternative modes of transport than road, especially for freight transport. It provides a framework for accompanying measures and contributes to lessening the fragmentation of pan Alpine transport policy.
The Transport protocol of the Alpine Convention was signed in 2000 and aims at reconciling the need to ensure accessibility and possibility to cross the Alps with the need to preserve vulnerable environment and landscapes. Even if inhabitants of central and peripheral Alpine regions benefit from better accessibility, the environmental effects of increasing transport are far greater than in the plains. The narrow valleys amplify the effects of pollutants and noise. Moreover, transport infrastructure is more expensive to build and maintain, it impacts on the landscape and is linked to the consumption of scarce soil reserves. Freight transport on transit roads has generated massive protests in recent years. On all transalpine roads transport increases much faster than rail.
The Alpine Convention, signed in 1991 and in force since 1995, is an international Treaty between the eight Alpine countries (Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Switzerland and Slovenia) as well as the European Union, which aims at promoting the protection of the Alps and their sustainable development. The Alpine Convention is the world’s first legally binding international Treaty for the protection of a mountain range.
Contact: Marco Onida, Tel. +43 650 588 5892
www.alpconv.org
On 4-10 October this year, a big event – The 10th World Wilderness Congress, WILD10 (www.wild10.org) – will take place in Salamanca, Spain, organized by the US-based “The WILD Foundation” and scores of global collaborators
The Patron of WILD10 is Queen Sofia of Spain, and many other celebrities – such as Vincente del Bosque, the coach of the Spanish National Football Team – support the event.
Upper Valais members of paliament do not contest the federal inventory of lands (FIL), but react against decisions made without consulting the town of Zermatt which is the owner of the concerned areas (270 square kilometers)
In the FIL is included the helicopters landing site for Monte Rosa on the glacier below the Pointe Dufour, the highest mountain in Switzerland. According to the Federal commission, this is “a rare and one of the most beautiful glaciers in the world located above 4000m of elevation”. Currently skiers are transported by helicopter approximately 800 times per year to the top.
Mountain wilderness Switzerland has launched an online petition and requests the federal council of Switzerland to prioritize and protect the conservation of this internationally famous landscape over particular economic interests.
Please sign on: www.matterhornforsale.com
Source: Cordée Mont-Blanc
A complaint was filed with the Office of the Prosecutor of the Republic by Mountain Wilderness Italy denouncing irregularities in the administrative authorization procedure for the reconstruction of the Punta Hellbronner cable car departing from Courmayeur.
“If such projects shall comply with the actual morphology of the territory, how was it possible that in an area of high environmental protection (Special Area of Conservation) and glacial area protected by the Galasso law to undertake such earthworks changing the morphology of the highest mountain on the continent. ”
Mountain Wilderness said in a statement: “It also appears with reasonable certainty that the work impacts the territory of the French state If this is really the reality it is important to know as whether the French Ministry of the Environment issued the necessary permits and to know that the city of Chamonix think of all that. ”
Due to the extremely bad weather conditions during the last few weeks the safety commission which is expected to give the green light to the French Alpine Club managing the hut will not be able to pay a visit to the new Goûter Hut at the planned date. The visit has been postponed no earlier than June 11 at best. As a consequence the early birds going-up to the Mont-Blanc via the normal way and who already have made reservations, will have to be hosted in the old hut until the Alpine Club finally receives the approval to open it.
However as the Mont-Blanc Tramway, which shortens the journey on the Saint-Gervais side, will not be able to do its tradional work before June 15, this will have a minor impact on the « traffic » according to the Chamonix Mountain guide president. This is good to know for those who are affected…
Reference: Dauphiné Libéré
This is the question that the online atlas of Mont Blanc claims to answer by scrutinizing the impact of climate change on this iconic massif, which concentrates diverse natural environments. The image shown on the picture may look very different indeed, at this time only a small fraction of the white cover might be left.
For the scientific community but also the general public, this new tool has been officially launched on Monday, May 27 in Chamonix (Haute-Savoie).
”Climate change, we talk a lot about it but it remains a bit abstract for most of us. Showing its visual impact across the Mont Blanc is more powerful, “says Anne Delestrade, director of the Centre for Research on Alpine Ecosystems (CREA).
«Back to safety”
Funded by the European Union, the site contains many photos, videos and maps (some in 3D), changing temperatures, melting glaciers or distribution of vegetation.
One can find that by 2100 it will necessary to go over 4083 meters in July to feel negative temperatures, this is 700 meters higher than today. At this time the frozen parts of the range will represent less than 10 km² during the hottest months of the year against 70 km² between 1950 and 2000.
One can also expect to experience more landslide there because the permafrost (permanently frozen ground, ed) which acts as a glue between rocks and seals all Chamonix needles,” will be essentially gone impacting safety. Remember that in 2005, a landslide of 265 000 m³ had already caused the disappearance of the famous Bonatti Pillar in the west face of the Dru.
Some maps also show the regress of the range glaciers, shrinking from a total area of 450 km² in 16,000 BCE to about to 230 km² in 1850 to only 160 km² in 2000.
This will obviously impact the fauna and flora.
Anne Delestrade in an s interview in a Swiss radio said that “the landscape changes will be quite noticeable, forests are expected to move to higher elevations and some alpine species will see their territory shrink.
As an example the Ranunculus Glacialis which is found at around 2600 m in this territory will have to climb to 3300 m to survive.”
Note that climate change is faster on the Mont-Blanc elsewhere with a 1.5 ° C warming during the twentieth century against 0.5 ° C in the world.
The Atlas, (http://www.atlasmontblanc.org) which will be updated over time, brings together 194 environmental sciences studies on the Mont-Blanc conducted by 65 research organizations (universities, laboratories, government) in France, Italy and Switzerland.
Stefania with Kurt Diemberger
The little fairy Stefania Benuzzi died on 12 May, 2013. She was the memory of MWI, often working behind the curtain, expressing kindly but firmly her opinion regarding all aspects of MWI.
From the creation of MWI during the bicentennial of the first ascent of the Mont-Blanc by H. B. de Saussure she has been working with her husband Felice the author of the book “No Picnic on Mount Kenia”. After his death she tied with with Carlo Alberto Pinelli, coordinating international activities with a focus on Asia. Stefania was a Vice President of Mountain Wilderness International.
During her youth she was known in the mountaineering world, she started to climb in the 1930′s with Emilio Comic before discovering the wild spaces of the Antarctic with her husband Felice.
She will be deeply missed by all the people who had the chance to cross her route.
Every second year, Mountain Wilderness Switzerland is awarding a prize for attainments in wilderness conservation and for a wilderness-like experience by fair means in the mountains. This year, in 2013, it will be given to short videos related to the tension between sites where wilderness can be experienced and sites where wilderness is disturbed. At a specific date in autumn/winter 2013 Mountain Wilderness Switzerland will organise a public event where the videos will be presented. The best videos will be awarded with different prizes and the public should get a better overview about “wilderness”.
The contest is not only Switzerland specific. Videos from all other countries within the Alps are desired.
The video could be made with handy-cameras, even with cell phones, or professional equipment. It could be every type of film: animation, documentary… Videos made with the use of means threatening the environment (helicopters…) will not be selected. The videos should not be longer than 3 minutes
The information is available in German or French on www.mountainwilderness.ch/pw.
