A virtual ascent of Mont Blanc at Fort Bard May 28, 2009

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A virtual ascent of Mont Blanc and teaching children to have a responsible attitude towards alpinism. A competitive experiment is proposed to be conducted in the “Kids’ Alps” Alpi dei Ragazzi, a specially assembled area in the interior part of Fort Bard, which will open on Thursday, June 4th 2009. “The game –states the brochure, -combines the discovery of alpinism unknown for the prevailing part of teenagers and promotes a model of responsible behavior in the mountain areas, and not only in the elevated areas”. “Kids’ Alps” is and interactive place with a large emotional charge where visitors are the principal actors; tied together in alpinist harnesses they will compete among different teams during a virtual ascent of Mont Blanc. The route is open for everybody.

The ascent is performed in nine different halls: preparing for the journey, determining the alpinism skill level – from beginner to experienced – the forming of the teams/tiers, equipment and using ropes; learning about the landscape’s topography; mountain hut/shelter, including an interactive preparation of the back pack and setting the route on a map; the glacier, actually a special sensitive floor which will imitate the sensation of walking on a glacier, making it real with the employment of projections and special effects; the ridge, actually an imitation of passing over it, rather difficult to keep balance on a curved and slightly sloped surface brought to life using an effect of blowing wind, the peak, where the virtual journey ends with a photograph (to take home); the world’s different mountain peaks serve as illustrations for a story about alpinism; yeti, actually a three dimensional reconstruction appears unexpectedly to bring the children into a small theater room where they will be shown a movie about glaciers. The entrance fee is 5 Euros. The summer schedule is 11AM till 6PM (until September 27th, 2009) (ANSA)