Wave of rescues in the Pyrenees, with assistance lasting up to nine hours in Ordesa

The number of rescues in the Huesca Pyrenees has increased during the first week of October, coinciding with the start of the Fiestas del Pilar, and it seems that the number of people who dare to go hiking, climbing or doing other mountain activities is not decreasing. Specialists from the Greim de la Guardia Civil in Huesca have intervened in up to seventeen rescues and only last Saturday, the day of the proclamation, up to nine devices were deployed, reaching figures similar to those of the summer months and with complex rescues lasting up to nine hours.

The month of September ended with a rescue on the Cresta de Llosas, in Benasque, when a mountaineer who was accompanied suffered a fall from a 150-metre cliff, suffering a head injury that forced him to be transferred by helicopter to the Barbastro Hospital. On the first day of October, a curious rescue took place when an eight-year-old boy received a viper bite on the hand, causing him discomfort and vomiting.

Last Wednesday, five canoeists had to be rescued by the Greim de Huesca after they became trapped on an 
islet in the Cinca River, in Alfántega. Having to spend the night there, they were located and evacuated unharmed early in the morning. They were five men aged between 38 and 50 from Zaragoza and Huesca.

Rescues due to muscle pain, dizziness or vomiting have been the order of the day, such as the 17-year-old mountaineer who was rescued on the same day, October 2, after being unable to continue his ascent of Pico Turbón. A few hours earlier, in the area of ​​Puente de Villacantal (in Alquézar) a 71-year-old French woman had to be rescued by the Greim de Huesca when she became dizzy and vomited. She was accompanied by a 74-year-old man, who was unharmed, and both were evacuated to the San Jorge Hospital in Huesca.

SPRAINS AND FRACTURES, MANY IN POSETS-MALADETAS

On Saturday, the day of the kick-off for the main festivities in Zaragoza, the first warning was received at 11:00 am, when a mountaineer suffered a fall near the Cresta de los Gabietos, between the municipalities of Torla and Ordesa. With a broken wrist, he had to be assisted by the Greim de Boltaña, who evacuated him by helicopter to the town of Huesca and then transferred him to the Hospital of Barbastro.

The second warning would arrive half an hour later, when a mountaineer suffered a fractured elbow and a possible dislocated shoulder in the Posets-Maladetas Natural Park, after slipping down a slope. Once located, he was evacuated and taken to the Benasque helipad, where an ambulance was waiting to take him to the hospital in the town of Barbastro. He is a 38-year-old man from Viana (Navarra).

At the same time, a 19-year-old American man had to be helped for lacerations and discomfort in his leg after suffering a fall on the Aneto Glacier. Shortly afterwards, another 25-year-old man from Madrid had to be helped after tripping and possibly spraining his leg while descending Monte Perdido, in the town of Fanlo. At 2:45 p.m., a hiker had become lost in the vicinity of Salto del Roldán, at the base of Peña Amán in Huesca. After being located, he was evacuated to his private vehicle, where he continued on his own.

The sixth warning would come when the Greim de Boltaña had to rescue a 75-year-old man after he tripped, slipped down a rocky slope and suffered a head injury. Another fall in the Posets-Maladetas Natural Park left a 54-year-old man from Barcelona with a sprained ankle, making it the seventh rescue of the day.

NINE-HOUR NIGHT RESCUE

One of the most complex rescues occurred in the Ordesa area, in the municipality of Torla, when a mountaineer who was accompanied by two others suffered a head injury plus a fractured elbow and foot while carrying out an activity on a wall. As it was almost nighttime and without the support of the helicopter, the rescue services had to descend slowly and safely. After being rescued, he was taken on foot to an official vehicle that would take him to the Pradera de Ordesa. After almost nine hours of rescue, this man from Barcelona and his two companions were transferred to the Jaca Hospital.

The Greim de Huesca assisted two climbers who were in the Mallo Fire de Riglos (Las Peñas de Riglos) in the last rescue last Saturday. They could not continue rappelling due to the lack of light, and around 8:50 p.m., the specialists climbed up the other side of the mallo and, after locating the trapped people at around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, they descended with them about 250 meters to complete the route and accompanied them to their vehicle. The operation lasted about seven hours. The rescued people, a 44-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman, were residents of Cerdanyola del Vallés (Barcelona).