An Italian sportsman reached the summit of Mont-Blanc from Genoa (Italy) in less than 15 hours by bike and then on foot, before descending by helicopter, sparking controversy on the French side.
Marcello Ugazio broke a previous record on this route by almost two hours, first riding more than 300 km to Lac Combal above Courmayeur, then abandoning his bike to rope with a guide and reach on foot the roof of Western Europe at 4,810 meters above sea level.
“The summit was conquered shortly before 9 a.m. on Sunday, 14 hours, 42 minutes and 14 seconds after leaving Genoa,” he told the newspaper La Stampa, adding that he “had already been thinking about this for several years. record attempt” and had trained for this purpose on Monte Rosa and Etna.
The announcement of his exploit was badly received on the French side where the mayor of the commune of Saint-Gervais Jean-Marc Peillex castigated his decision to descend by helicopter. “The cranks are back,” he was indignant.
Marcello Ugazio will be the subject of a “complaint for non-compliance with the regulations of the classified site of Mont-Blanc and the provisions of the APHN (decree for the protection of natural habitats)”, he adds in a press release. .
“Mont-Blanc is neither a stadium nor an airport,” added the environmental defense NGO Mountain Wilderness.
“When are we finally going to preserve this summit from excessive and harmful commodification?” exasperated the organization, calling for a “real policy of limiting overflights over the entire Mont-Blanc massif, in France over the entire classified site and not only around the summit, but also in a coordinated manner in Switzerland and Italy”.
