France's new 'high-altitude hotel' left hanging

Refuge du Goûter took five years to design and three years to build

A new €6 million eco-friendly mountain refuge set on the slopes of Mont Blanc is to remain off limits until 2013. Technical glitches and squabbling that has drawn in France’s sports minister have delayed its opening.


It has been billed as an incredible feat of architecture and engineering, a pioneering example of sustainability and the future of high altitude alpine lodging.

But technical problems and wrangling between various stakeholders means the €6 million state-of-the-art Refuge du Goûter on Western Europe's highest mountain will not open as planned this year.

The refuge, perched like a spaceship 3,835 metres (12,582 ft) high on one of the most popular routes used by climbers hoping to scale Mont Blanc, was due to be inaugurated in a no-expense-spared €93,000 ceremony later this week.

But mountaineers heading for France's famous peak will now have to wait until the summer of 2013 before setting their weary feet inside what will become the highest refuge in Western Europe.

Authorities say the refuge, which has been dubbed a 'high-altitude hotel', needs to remain closed after a series of glitches meant it is still not safe.

The Refuge du Goûter was hit by a fire on August 19. More recently, authorities also revealed that the cooling circuits of the refuge’s solar power system have malfunctioned.

Going green on Mont Blanc

AT 3835 METRES HIGH THE REFUGE DE GOÛTER WILL
NOT BE ON THE ROUTE OF EVERYDAY WALKERS 

The Refuge du Goûter has certainly scaled the heights in terms of sustainability and design.

The construction of the Refuge du Goûter was naturally fraught with difficulties. Due to extreme weather conditions, work could only take place between spring and autumn and regularly had to be postponed.

The 100 or so construction workers - who were specially chosen because of their endurance - were forced to contend with high altitude and driving winds of over 70km/h.

Apart from the kitchen, which will use gas, the building will be powered by 70m2 worth of solar panels, as well as wind turbines and an emergency generator fuelled by the burning of rapeseed oil. Snow melted by solar power will also fill the building’s 20,000-litre water tanks.

Windows are triple glazed and all water used for cooking will be redirected and used for flushing the toilets, which have been designed to use around only a fifth of the usual amount of water. All water will, in turn, be treated and filtered before being disposed of.

Dug 14 metres in to the rockface, the refuge, made with local alpine wood, is further designed to resist winds of up to 300km/h.

It has been dubbed by some an 'high-altitude hotel' because of the comfort it will offer climbers.

Thomas Buchi and Hervé Dessimoz, the two Swiss masterminds behind the refuge, hope their ultra-environmentally-friendly project will be an example to others.

“Our message is that if you can construct an ecological and autonomous building like this at an altitude of 3,835 metres, then there is no excuse for not doing it anywhere else,” they said.

-  france24.com