Cerebros kindly provides the link, and the humourous title, to a story about how EU regulations are threatening to affect mountaineers. Tory MEP Jonathan Evans says:
If this legislation is implemented as it currently stands then activity centres will be legally compelled to post signs to tell people they are up high.
But more concerning is this:
Instructors in Scotland have said they are worried that some of the ways they ensure the safety of their students would be prohibited under the regulations.
They cited the example of using abseiling techniques to descend quickly when weather conditions deteriorate.
Mr Wild said: “Abseiling off a climb is something which happens every weekend on Scottish mountains.
“This is a safety technique, a way to escape a dangerous situation, but it is not possible to abseil off a climb under these regulations.”
[...]
“There will be a spin-off,” said Mr Wild, “because the best practice of professional instructors tends to be followed by recreational climbers.”
He predicted that many instructors would risk prosecution if they believed it was necessary to maintain safety while climbing.
It doesn’t matter whether the regulations are right or wrong. What this story highlights is how utterly pointless they are. Mountaineers have been getting along just fine on their own, and they will ignore stupid people in Brussels. The moral of the story is: we don’t need these stupid parasites.