Unlicensed Mt Blanc guide jailed in France

43-year-old Polish national Jaroslaw S. has been sentenced to half a year in prison for conducting tours to Mount Blanc without a license.

The Pole worked as a steeplejack but was employed by a Polish travel agency to guide tours in the Alps. Jaroslaw S. along with his friend, who was also a false guide, guided a group of three Polish tourists to Mont Blanc in July 2010.

While high on the climb, at about 4000m Jaroslaw S.’s friend fell and died. After the accident the French police opened an investigation on the case and accused Jaroslaw S. of “appropriating a mountain guide title”.

Jaroslaw S. claimed in court that he was a member of a Polish high mountain club and did not know French regulations concerning mountain climbing.

“I regret what I’d done. I wanted to do my friend [a travel agency owner] a favour. It was an unconsidered decision. It’s the first and the last time I’ve done something like that,” said the Pole.

French media stress that the travel agency which employed Jaroslaw S. has not been punished and its name has not been revealed. The agency still offers trips to Mont Blanc, much cheaper than those offered by other agencies which employ licensed guides.

Every year French police catch one to two false guides in Chamonix. Since 2007, they detained three Poles who pretended to be mountain guides.

Source article by PAP (thenews.pl)

Image of Mt Blanc: Wkipedia Commons