Are you tired? Does your right ear hurt? Does your nose itch in a worrying way? Are you at 2000 meters with flip-flops and you realize that the rocks are not desert sand? Don’t worry, the Belluno mountaineers come to pick you up, the volunteers leave their jobs, the helicopter takes off, the taxpayer pays because those who have insurance are absolutely right, pay a small fee, but you get a nice ride with the helicopter, since the mountaineers are always silent. I feel more and more “pantalon” and less and less represented by these institutions that seem not to be so “social”, since they don’t see the constant criticisms and provocations that are published every day on the main information sites and on the radio.
Yesterday’s helicopter interventions, which you will read about in the news of the day, make you smile. A sprained wrist? We call the helicopter, we are insured, who cares if health care costs increase. But enough! Every day the same story and not even Luca Zaia’s recall was needed… everything remains the same… Will it be like this all summer? Will we have to report situations like these every day? Is it possible that all this happens in total silence?
You don’t go to the mountains without the right equipment, whoever does so is committing a serious imprudence and it’s up to him to pay the consequences. Is Zaia right? Of course, he’s absolutely right. Because if a car slips and goes sideways and blocks the road, no one can pass, the car is stopped and the driver is fined. Well, the same checks should be exercised on tourists’ shoes: those wearing trainers must not pass. The Alpine troops don’t have trainers, they have heavy and waterproof boots, made of Vibram. Tourists who climb to almost three thousand meters in trainers are committing a stupid imprudence that has a high cost. They should pay for it.
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Even the President of the Region Zaia has come to the conclusion that it is time to put an end to heli-taxi… it’s a shame that we have been saying it for years, our readers and listeners have been reporting it for years, but no one has ever deigned to respond, until today. Who is responsible for these changes? Wasn’t it like this once? How is it going with the insurance that allows free helicopter travel? We have been saying it for years, and have received often evasive answers that have not clarified the situations, even from DolomitiEmergency. Maybe this is the right time to put a stop to free travel in the skies of the Dolomites?
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VENEZIA “Our Alpine Rescue and the yellow helicopters of the regional health service are not ‘taxis’. Those who approach the peaks thinking, with a call, that they can quickly return to the car park escorted by rescuers in uniform, must evaluate the consequences and responsibilities of their own recklessness. The summer season has just begun even in the mountains and there are already numerous reports of imprudence that have forced the men and vehicles of the Alpine Rescue to intervene. Over the last month, there have been over 50 interventions by the men and women of the CNSAS. The rescuers in their reports refer to people without the proper equipment, with trainers on the high-altitude paths, without clothing suitable for bad weather. Underestimations that, in a season like this, risk costing dearly: the approach to the mountains does not take place with due attention and with sufficient preparation”. This was stated by the President of the Veneto Region commenting on today’s news of a hiker rescued at 2,480 meters on Lagazuoi where he was climbing in trainers. “This is just the latest in a series of episodes that have occurred this year too – underlines the President of Veneto – I take this opportunity to renew the appeal for responsibility and caution to all those who go hiking, climbing or any activity in the mountains and mountain woods. True mountain lovers know it well: you have to have the right respect for the mountains and for yourself. You can never be too careful, even for those who are adequately trained”. “We need to be aware that imprudence has a high social cost: we cannot ask the Alpine Rescue, the helicopter rescue, the SAGF of the Guardia di Finanza to work miracles – underlines in conclusion the Governor of Veneto -. Too often now the rescuers are engaged in risky interventions to recover people who in many cases are unharmed. Fatality exists, but we must ensure that the rescuers, the angels of the mountain, whom I take this opportunity to thank all, are not forced to make exceptional interventions, putting their safety at risk, to rescue imprudent people. I believe it is a commitment that all those who frequent our mountains for pleasure and passion are able to take on”.
