Dark cumulonimbus, electrical phenomena (thunder, lightning, lightning) and often heavy rainfall: every year, the French territory experiences 450,000 storms and a hundred people are struck by lightning. In this picture, the mountain environment pays a heavy price. Indeed, over the decade 2010-2020, 28 of the 215 victims of lightning were practicing mountain activities. Either the second category at risk, ahead of swimming, cycling or hunting, as Le Figaro reveals.
The causes of this particular exposure are simple. It is the increased force of meteorological phenomena in the mountains, the proximity to the summits which attract lightning and which, consequently, constitute certain difficulties in protecting oneself from it. Moreover, in the mountains, the danger of being struck by lightning is accompanied by the risk of hypothermia and falling rocks.
In the mountains, direct lightning falls on the ridges, so you have to move away quickly while respecting a safe pace to avoid injury. You will have previously stored your walking sticks so that they do not exceed your head. If so, it’s already a good gesture of survival. In addition, the lightning strike of an individual can spread to another person, it is advisable to distance yourself from each other by at least 3 meters.
How, then, to avoid the dangers induced by storms in the mountains? Here are the 8 actions to take to deal with it, presented in our slideshow below.
