The increase in trips to the mountains is consolidated and translates into more rescues. During the first week of August, GRAE workers, the Special Actions Group, participated in a total of 40 rescues, almost 43% more than those recorded in the same period of 2022, according to data provided by the Fire Department of the Generalitat. Between the months of January and July 2023, 853 operations have materialized in Catalonia, a record figure that is 28% more than the previous year. Lost hikers, others who get tired, say enough and turn to the mobile phone to ask the Fire Department for help, and those who suffer falls, twists, fractures or other accidents end up activating more and more land and air resources. The question is whether the firemen should go and find all the hikers who say they are exhausted, who find it difficult to return to the starting point by their own means. “Today’s society is like this, we are used to the Administration solving everything for us, this is also seen in other areas, there are people who go to the emergency room without needing it”, says Rafael Esteban, officer of the technical unit of the GRAE ,
There is a lack of pedagogy, and also common sense, for mountain enthusiasts to plan activities that suit their physical and technical abilities.
The analysis of the causes that end with a call to 112 suggest that there are hikers who set themselves too ambitious goals. Before attempting the Pica d’Estats, the Comaloforno, the Aneto, or any other three thousand, it is advisable to train and gain experience on less demanding peaks. The notes published periodically by the Fire Department on social networks indicate that too often this is not the case.
Four people crowned Punta Alta de Comalesbienes, 3,014 meters high, in the national park of Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici, on the afternoon of July 13. But after reaching the top and starting the descent, they realized that they didn’t know for sure which was the correct route. In addition, they said that they were without strength and one of them was distressed. The four were evacuated to the parking lot of the Cavallers reservoir, in the Vall de Boí.
The situations in which the question arises as to whether it is justified to resort to the Fire Department to descend by helicopter instead of walking because of fatigue or because of getting lost, are repeated. Obviously, to avoid major harm it is necessary to act, but it is also very important to convey to the rescued and to society that before setting yourself a challenge in high mountains you must think twice, calibrate well how far we can go and choose adventures in our reach And it’s better not to go there alone. A guarantee of safety is to hire a guide.
“For the cases of hikers who have become disoriented, we have opened a new type of service, which is mobile phone guidance. They send us their location by phone and we give them the directions so they can find the nearest way, sometimes this solution is not possible, as there are people who feel very distressed, who have walked around for hours, who “he has run out of water and his ability to respond is minimal, so we have to go look for them”, points out Rafael Esteban. Until July, the Fire Department has guided 25 lost people thanks to this method. But it should be borne in mind that the coverage does not reach everywhere.
Doctor Iñigo Soteras, specialist in rescues and member of the security committee of the Federation of Excursionist Organizations of Catalonia (FEEC), points out precisely that lately what he has detected most in his guards are calls from disoriented people. “After 22 years of experience in rescues, one of the things that catches my attention the most is that people are not self-sufficient, that they are very dependent on the telephone. They have to plan better, know how to orient themselves and go with the right equipment, be aware that in 20 minutes they won’t have an ambulance and that if the wind blows, the helicopter won’t be able to fly”, highlights Soteras.
From the FEEC they emphasize an old claim, the need for the Fire Department to accurately document the causes that motivate each rescue and the profile of the rescued (age, sex, experience…). The Fire Brigade database provides the historical evolution of the number of rescues, but without specifying the cause of each one or what activity they were doing. “Without this information it is very difficult to work to minimize the risks”, they point out from the FEEC.
Another relevant topic is to create a kind of map with the enclaves that motivate more rescue operations to analyze the convenience or not of improving their signage. But this is a subject on which there is no consensus, since it is considered that those preparing for a crossing or for a demanding summit should know how to orient themselves and read maps.
In the Aragonese Pyrenees, the data published by the Greim (Special Mountain Intervention Rescue Groups) of the Civil Guard corroborate that there are not a few people who get lost in the mountains. So, on day 4 three of the five GREIM outings in this area were to help seven disoriented hikers.
Coinciding with the fatal accident suffered by a 24-year-old man on August 2 in the descent from Punta Alta de Comalesbienes, the Fire Department has asked for extreme caution in activities in the natural environment. Precisely, the GRAE has detected an increase in incidents at Punta Alta this summer, the majority due to hikers who get lost on the way down and who suffer falls of various kinds.
The GRAE warns that if the chosen route is the circular one, which leaves from the Cavallers reservoir, climbs towards the Ventosa i Calvell refuge and from there to the summit, and then returns through the area of ??the Comalesbienes lakes, you have to be careful to avoid taking a wrong path and entering very dangerous channels. In recent weeks, there have been four trips to help hikers in trouble at Punta Alta.
The fever to climb three thousand and the perception that Punta Alta is one of the most affordable can encourage people without adequate preparation to face this peak. Things get complicated when there is a change in weather and visibility worsens. It is necessary to prevent as much as possible.
Rafael Esteban considers that the majority of citizens are cautious and that this increase in rescues only responds to the fact that many more people go to the mountains. Likewise, he points out that it is important not to embark on routes alone and that those who do so, before leaving, warn people close to the itinerary they plan to follow.
