They’re turning it into Mont Brown.
French authorities are imposing a ban on Mont Blanc day trippers after noticing a surge in tourists defecating on site, feeding wildlife, and making unreasonable demands.
“Faced with these excesses, we are showing that the ‘anything goes’ approach is over,” Jean-Marc Peillex, the mayor of Saint-Gervais and president of the Mont Blanc association of communes, told the Telegraph.
Tourist officials have noticed an alarming uptick in crowds along the Tour Du Mont Blanc, which loops 105 miles around western Europe’s highest mountain and traverses France, Italy and Switzerland.
Over 90,000 hikers have reportedly walked the route — the Alps’ most popular trek — this year, up from 60,000 in 2022, with tourist officials blaming the outdoor social media boom.
This tourist tidal wave has prompted a rash of high-altitude hijinks, including camping on private land and treating the surrounding wilderness as a lavatory, The Times of London reported.
“In the unauthorised bivouac areas, we find toilet paper under every stone,” Pierre Arpin, the manager of Les Chambres du Soleil hotel in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France, told Le Monde. “I have had to put up wire so that people don’t camp in my garden.”
In one Instagram clip, a woman held up soiled bathroom tissue and claimed she found “an astronomical amount of poo, toilet paper and especially wipes” along the trail, the Daily Mail reported.
Meanwhile, some hikers have taken to feeding wild ibex, further besmirching the mountain mecca’s natural beauty.
Other so-called glampers have had their luggage ferried from refuge to refuge by taxi while others have been accused of traveling significant stretches of the Tour du Mont Blanc by car.
One accommodation manager said some hikers climbed thousands of feet, only to complain about the lack of an elevator or spa.
Now, it’s time for these bozos to face the mountain music.
To reduce the peak stupidity, officials will require hikers to prove they’ve reserved official accommodations starting next summer. Camping outside of designated spots will also be prohibited, per the officials, who have pledged to supply the bona fide overnight spots with toilet paper and water to encourage use.
Under the new rules, only trekking backpacks will be permitted and hikers won’t be allowed to transport them by taxi except during designated hours, presumably in the morning and evening.
Peillex claimed that he’s not “banning access” but simply “bringing it under control.”
“Where is it all going to stop if we do nothing?” he declared.
Nonetheless, the official’s proposed policies have sparked backlash from some of the mayors in the region, who claim that the influx of visitors benefits the local economy.
While seven French municipalities have already agreed to the rules, there’s no indication that their Swiss and Italian counterparts will follow suit.
Unfortunately, Mont Blanc is far from the only European nature spot being invaded by backpack-toting barbarians.
Over the summer, viral photos surfaced showing Mount Snowdon in Wales absolutely inundated with crowds like something out of Disneyland.
“That is my idea of hell. I don’t go outdoors to be in an environment more crowded than a city,” surmised one commenter.
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