Mountaineers ‘killing off ’ rare plant

CLIMBERS are destroying England’s only site of a rare Alpine plant at the peak of Helvellyn, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has warned.

Their axes are wrecking the beautiful purple-blooming Alpine saxifrage, which only grows in two spots in the country, both remote locations on the Lake District mountain, it said.

The problem is so severe that a sophisticated ice-sensor sensor has been fitted to the peak in order to confirm when conditions are right to use axes and crampons – and when their use should be avoided for the sake of the flora on the mountainside.

Rob Dyer, the BMC’S access and conservation expert, said: “Placing axes and crampons into solidly frozen turf won’t damage the habitats these plants depend on. But the worst scenario is a winter climber in marginal conditions, tearing unfrozen turf off the crag and removing the habitat needed for these plants to take root.”