Alpinists who have accidents, lost hikers when night falls, mountaineers who venture into activities for which they are not sufficiently prepared...
The profile of those rescued by the Special Mountain Rescue Group (Greim) of the Guardia Civil in Granada is varied and changes according to the time of year, with an average of ten rescues per month.
The year now ending is the darkest of the last decade, with 22 deaths – five more than in 2022 – making it the Greim unit in Spain with the most fatalities.
The Greim has carried out a total of 114 rescues in 2023, which places it as the second year with the most rescues of the decade, only behind 2021, when there were 116. In the last rescue, carried out on Tuesday, 26 December, the protagonist was a 45-year-old speleologist who had an accident in the Raja Santa chasm, in the municipality of Atarfe.
He had dislocated his shoulder and could not climb out the cave, so the Guardia Civil had to mount a counterweight at the top of the cave in order to lift the injured man to the surface. This is just one example of how the Greim manages to reach all those who need help.
In the summer season most of the calls are recorded in Rio Verde or Los Cahorros for injuries caused by falls. The Trevélez ravine is also included in the list – it can be very dangerous, especially when the river is high – and this year another area has been added, Cerro Huenes (Monachil), with several rescues. “This black spot is new and has seen many rescues during spring and summer,” explains Luis Raya, head of Greim in Granada.
On the other hand, in winter the black spots are the Corral del Veleta and the Tajos de la Virgen, in Sierra Nevada, where there are usually falls due to snow slides and/or the presence of ice. In addition, 2023 has been sadly marked by the especially difficult incidence of suicides, so the Greim has also acted in this regard.
“There are those who have suffered blows, sprains or traumas, but there is also a significant number of people who have simply got lost,” explains Lieutenant Luis Raya. Some of them go hiking in the mid-mountains and enter areas that are difficult to access and from which they don’t know how to get out, so they ask for help from the 112 emergency service, which mobilises the Greim.
The rescue statistics include the dead and injured, but also those who escape unharmed. Many of them are the companions of the injured, who are also brought back.
One of the latest occurred almost a month ago, when a mountaineer died in the Sierra Nevada after falling through an area of frozen snow and hitting his head on a rock. He was returning after spending the morning climbing ridges with a companion who was unharmed but in a state of shock. The latter was also rescued, secured with a harness and rope on the way back.
There are simple interventions, while others are extremely complex and put the officers at risk. “There are rescues at night, on ice, which are very dangerous,” says the lieutenant. The one that was carried out to bring back the deceased climber and his companion was one of them. The helicopter greatly facilitates the work of the Guardia Civil and also shortens the response time, but it is not always possible for it to attend. The visibility during the night hours, strong winds or fog ground it.
(News/Noticias: Granada, Andalucia)