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ARoyal Marines veteran who attempted to climb Mont Blanc with a rowing machine on his back for charity was forced to abandon the device less than 1,500 feet from the summit, prompting a row with the local French mayor. Matthew Paul Disney attempted to scale Western Europe’s highest mountain, which stands at 4,809m (15,780ft) but had to turn back on Saturday morning at 4,362m due to bad weather. The charity stunt was in aid of raising funds for Rock 2 Recovery and RMA – The Royal Marines Charity. The fitness enthusiast and global adventurer from Lancashire, left the 26-kilogramme, 2.5-metre long unbalanced Concept2 rowing machine in an emergency hut near the top. Mr Disney, 36, said he was very disappointed not to have completed the ascent with the machine, saying the the main reason was poor visibility due to bad weather. He did, however, go on to reach the top without it. Shortly after descending, he said on Facebook he intended to go back up between September 12 and 30 to retrieve the rowing machine, reach the summit and return with the equipment. However, his unfinished bid prompted a furious response from Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, which encompasses the French side of Europe’s highest Alp. Matthew Paul Disney had intended to retrieve the rowing machine he left near the top of Mont Blanc but the mayor banned him Credit: Telegraph In an angry Facebook missive to Mr Disney, he wrote: “Can’t wait for Brexit that you stay on your island [sic].” “I have received no apologies and even if it is for charity, it’s an aberration, even more so for a soldier of her Majesty. Shameful”, he later told The Daily Telegraph. The mayor said he had banned Mr Disney from going back up Mont Blanc to recover the rowing machine and would be sending a bill of €1,800 (£1,640) plus VAT to the British Embassy in Paris for the costs of his men bringing it down. Mr Disney said the mayor’s Brexit comments were “very unprofessional, undiplomatic and could be seen as a mild form of racism”. Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, sent an angry message to RM Disney welcoming Brexit “I wouldn’t litter anywhere let alone a mountain. This is my 13th country’s highest mountain with a rowing machine and 21st without a rowing machine, so I have a lot of love and passion for mountains. I would never dream of littering or making a mockery of a mountain,” he told the Telegraph. Earlier this summer, Mr Disney successfully climbed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and the distance in-between with the Concept2 Rowing Machine on his back. Mr Disney posted a photo showing the rower neatly stored inside the hut. “As you can see in the photo, it is not litter, it is not on the top of the mountain. It is not taking up vital space,” he said. Safety hut near the top of Mont Blanc where Royal Marines vet Matthew Paul Disney stored his rowing machine Credit: Telegraph He said could “understand the mayor’s concern because there are a lot of foolish people”. But he said, he had his climb rubber-stamped by gendarmes after showing them his “experience, skillset, my fitness level and my intention to raise awareness for two military charities, good causes for active and veterans on the brink of suicide.” He questioned the decision by the gendarmes to bar him going back up to get the rowing machine as “they had allowed me to go up with it” beforehand after he showed them his plans. Mr Peillex responded: “He’s not in his own home and he doesn’t decide.” This was just one of a string of cases of “disrespect” for the mountain, the mayor said, adding that a German climber forced his dog to the top at night this weekend after being ordered not to by police. The dog came back down alive but with “bloodied paws”. The outspoken official has written to Emmanuel Macron, the French president, calling for him to pass new a new law next year to “punish all the loonies who break the rules” on the overcrowded peak, often leaving rubbish along the way. Earlier this year, two Swiss mountaineers landed a small plane less than 400 metres from the top of the famed mountain before heading for the summit with police in pursuit. The two climbers were equipped with ropes and crampons and had already started climbing towards the summit when they were intercepted by police and asked to turn back. Already threatened by global warming, such people were turning Mont Blanc into an “amusement park” where people expect to see “sea lions juggling with balls and pretty fireworks”, the mayor warned. Local authorities tightened rules on ascending the “normal route” to the summit without booking at a refuge earlier this year saying overcrowding was increasing the risk of mortality.
September 3, 2019Read More
Mike Beradino with Indystar joins Dominique Yates of the Courier Journal to talk about Notre Dame’s win over Louisville.
September 3, 2019Read More
The Cherokee Nation is appointing former Obama advisor Kimberly Teehee as the tribe’s first-ever delegate to the U.S. House. The position is outlined in an 1835 treaty but has never been filled.
September 3, 2019Read More
Britain’s currency tumbled below $1.20 on Tuesday, the first time it has breached that level since a “flash crash” in October 2016, as fears over Brexit and a possible general election escalated sharply. If that flash crash is excluded, sterling is no…
September 3, 2019Read More
(Bloomberg Opinion) — An entity dubbing itself “Ohioans For Energy Security” has a warning for the good people of the Buckeye State:The Chinese government is quietly invading our American electric grid; intertwining themselves financially in our energy infrastructure.Before we get into the details of the one-minute ad in which a suitably ominous voice intones those words over much footage of President Xi Jinping, some context: Ohio recently passed legislation to subsidize struggling nuclear and coal-fired power plants, while also weakening incentives for renewable power and energy efficiency. The law benefits several incumbent power companies, especially FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., the bankrupt merchant-generation arm of utility FirstEnergy Corp. In response, opponents are busy gathering signatures for a petition to put a referendum aimed at scrapping the law on the November 2020 ballot.The ad warns Ohioans about such people approaching them to sign. And while the ad doesn’t go on to say this, I think I am duty-bound to point out that those clipboard carriers will not necessarily be sporting identifying markers like Chinese-flag lapel pins or tee-shirts proclaiming “XI LOVES YOU!”As my Bloomberg News colleague Will Wade reports, Carlo LoParo, a spokesperson for OFES, explained that state-controlled Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. has loaned money to several natural-gas-fired power projects in Ohio. Therefore, as those plants gain market share, so Beijing could gain undue influence over the state’s power system.Having rejected “compelling,” I’m struggling to find a word that adequately captures the class of logic on display there. Suffice it to say that loans made to power plants by a bank, state-owned or otherwise, do not actually grant that bank or its shareholders ownership of said plants, let alone influence over the grid they supply. Finance and power-market oversight just doesn’t work that way.LoParo runs a local public relations firm and previously worked on behalf of a group funded by FirstEnergy Solutions that promulgated the bailout legislation(1). He says the ad was “produced in a way to get your attention,” and I can only agree with him on that. When asked how exactly a bank loan would translate to undue influence over the grid, things got a little fuzzier, and he said we just don’t know the terms of the financing. Not knowing would seem like a good reason to hold off airing inflammatory insinuations – especially as loans don’t grant equity-like control – but maybe that’s just me. I also asked LoParo how OFES feels about Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s role as a lender to none other than FirstEnergy itself. An amended agreement from last October attached to the parent company’s last 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission lists the Chinese bank as part of a 23-strong syndicate providing a $2.5 billion credit line to FirstEnergy and several of its subsidiaries.Here’s the thing: That also doesn’t give ICBC any control of FirstEnergy’s operations in Ohio’s power market. But by the comically tortured logic of the OFES ad, surely having a Chinese bank provide credit to the actual owner of the grid presents a similarly sinister challenge? LoParo actually said he would “prefer” FirstEnergy not to take such funding. (A spokesperson told me the company isn’t associated with OFES and doesn’t plan on changing its lending banks.)Indeed, in response to a broader question, he said he would prefer any public or quasi-public Ohio infrastructure project not to take funding from banks controlled by foreign governments. That sounds like a great way to increase the cost of just about everything for Ohioans. One wonders if OFES plans on also going after the federal government over the small issue of who owns all those U.S. Treasuries. As an abattoir of reason, the ad at least comports with the spirit of this bailout. Consider representative William Seitz, a co-sponsor of the law, who declared years ago that when it comes to renewable energy, Ohio’s legislature wouldn’t continue its “march up state mandate mountain.” But now that the mountain happens to be made of coal and uranium, he has scrabbled up with gusto.In its vilification of sinister outside forces, the ad displays a certain despicable cunning. It recasts local energy supply as being about other, national hot-button issues promulgated by President Donald Trump, who carried the state in 2016. We have seen this already, of course, not least in Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s attempt to force through subsidies for coal and nuclear plants on national-security grounds. The Chinese link, tenuous as it is, stokes fear and attempts to connect the prior decade’s decline in manufacturing employment – not confined to Ohio by any means – to the job losses that result from unprofitable old power plants closing. This use of labor issues is an extension of Trump’s pledge to coal miners and seems likely to be weaponized more and more as our energy system changes. Faced with implacable forces of falling costs for newer technologies and rising concern about climate change, rallying support for struggling incumbents on the basis of protecting jobs can be a potent populist tactic.On this front, there is a grim irony to be found in the fact that FirstEnergy Solutions’ emergence from chapter 11 has been delayed due to a dispute with unions about honoring existing collective bargaining agreements. Just as Trump’s love for coal miners has done little to revive their sector, the Ohio state legislature’s subsidies for struggling older plants represent a losing strategy (except for the asset owners). Plus, like OFES’s seeming preference for financial autarky, such subsidies raise costs for everyone, including manufacturers. If folks are worried about interference in Ohio’s grid, they should forget Beijing and start with Columbus.With assistance from Margaret Newkirk(1) He told Wade he has had no interaction with that group on this campaign.To contact the author of this story: Liam Denning at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Gongloff at [email protected] column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote for the Financial Times’ Lex column. He was also an investment banker.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
September 3, 2019Read More
The failure of all previous denuclearization agreements with North Korea does not preclude additional attempts. But, given the lack of progress since the Singapore summit, skepticism and wariness are warranted.
September 3, 2019Read More
Studies point to the link between corporal punishment of children and youth violence. Have more countries been motivated to enact legislation that would address the issue?
September 3, 2019Read More
See how Louisville football reacted to season opener against Notre Dame
September 3, 2019Read More
Tuesday: Here’s what we know so far. Also: A look at the future of work in California.
September 3, 2019Read More
St. Xavier football will host Male in the Courier Journal’s Game of the Week while Trinity will host Cincinnati Moeller
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AppHarvest, the largest greenhouse in the United States, will begin shipping 45 million pounds of fresh produce annually to grocery stores when it opens next summer.
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