First rescue of the season on the Route Napoleon

[Bradypus]

Because of snow the reopening of the Route Napoleon was delayed until yesterday. And the Burguete bomberos had their first rescue on the path this season. A man with a muscle injury who could not continue walking to Roncesvalles was picked up near the Alto de Lepoeder.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1643480332144898048

 

[Bradypus]

The bomberos had already been called out earlier this week to assist a peregrino injured crossing a swollen stream near Espinal. An important and busy service.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642989973971300355

 

[NancyZ]

Because of snow the reopening of the Route Napoleon was delayed until yesterday. And the Burguete bomberos had their first rescue on the path this season. A man with a muscle injury who could not continue walking to Roncesvalles was picked up near the Alto de Lepoeder.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1643480332144898048

 

[Christopher / Atenas]

I bow to the bomberos. They are like Guardian Angels!

 

[Bradypus]

I bow to the bomberos. They are like Guardian Angels!

And they were busy again yesterday. Another call out - this time to pick up a man suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.

Rescatan a un peregrino en Valcarlos

Bomberos del parque de Burguete fueron los encargados de ayudar este jueves por la tarde a un varón que presentaba síntomas de agotamiento e hipotermia leve

www.diariodenavarra.es

Edit: A second news report says that the man himself called the rescue services at 7.35pm. Very late in the day to still be up in the hills.

 

[Kathor1]

Just for information because this may not be obvious to every reader: The pilgrim was picked up in a location that is described as “Bentarte (Valcarlos)“. Bentarte is the name of a pass on the Napoleon route, very close to the French-Spanish border. Valcarlos is not only the name of the town but of the large area of land that belongs administratively to Valcarlos. While I am of course happy and everything about the help being provided I also can’t help thinking “predictable” … yes, everyone can walk it provided they are fit enough and with the proper equipment for the weather conditions.

 

[Bradypus]

Valcarlos is not only the name of the town but of the large area of land that belongs administratively to Valcarlos.

Indeed - the Spanish custom of putting the province or district in brackets when naming a place can be confusing. Just because you read "O Cebreiro (Lugo)" you shouldn't plan on nipping into town for some tapas before bedtime in the albergue!

 

[Kathor1]

Indeed - the Spanish custom of putting the province in brackets when naming a place can be confusing. Just because you read "O Cebreiro (Lugo)" you shouldn't plan on nipping into town for some tapas before bedtime in the albergue!

Yes indeed. Or Santiago (A Coruña) … town, comarca, province, communidad autonoma… it took me some getting used too.

BTW, these news articles are often not more than a quick rewrite of the Bomberos’ Twitter feed. And in this case the rescue team consequently wrote that they picked up the pilgrim in #Bentarte (#Valcarlos) - hashtags . The photo is not an archive photo…

 

[Bradypus]

The photo is not an archive photo …

Looks like a good walking day! Surprising that someone apparently well dressed for the conditions in the photo should be hypothermic. A warning to us all to be well prepared.

 

[Kathor1]

Edit: A second news report says that the man himself called the rescue services at 7.35pm. Very late in the day to still be up in the hills.

. That explains the light on the hills and the colours in the photo … and of course the long shadows … yes, by all accounts, yesterday Thursday was a great day for hillwalking.

 

[LavanyaLea]

Do you know if someone calls out for help, will they have to pay for the call out?

 

[Bradypus]

Do you know if someone calls out for help, will they have to pay for the call out?

I've never heard of anyone being charged for their rescue. Though there are rules in place which state hefty fees and fines for anyone who has to be found and recovered from the Route Napoleon during the official closed period.

 

[VNwalking]

Well, this has been a disturbingly busy start.
I notice my immediate assumption about the peregrinos, and who knows if it's true. I hope not.
Big kudos to the Bombeiros. They are a huge blessing.

 

[dick bird]

I've never heard of anyone being charged for their rescue. Though there are rules in place which state hefty fees and fines for anyone who has to be found and recovered from the Route Napoleon during the official closed period.

Do you know if someone calls out for help, will they have to pay for the call out?

This issue has been raised before. It is fairly standard practice around the world for rescue teams and emergency services not to chastise or criticise or charge people they have to rescue. The reason for this is that they do not want anyone who is genuinely in distress to be afraid to call for help. They may, however, ´offer´ useful advice on how to avoid getting into trouble in the future.

 

[Juno]

Even in May there are blizzards or bad weather so take a foil emergency blanket and you can also use your poncho as a tent if big enough if doing the route Napoleon. Also if there’s a white out, I learned about them when skiing) don’t move as you could fall and injure yourself. Stay put as they usually don’t last too long. If they do walk with poles & use them to feel in front of you as there can be a drop. As everyone says be prepared with correct equipment, energy bars and water and a drop of common sense!

 

[Lindsay from Scotland]

I don’t quite understand.
I personally walked from St Jean to Roncesvalles on Wednesday 5th April on the Napoleon route and it was wall to wall sunshine And has been like that for 4 days now. I am in Pampalona right now the weather is fantastic- blue cloudless skies.

 

[Juno]

I don’t quite understand.
I personally walked from St Jean to Roncesvalles on Wednesday 5th April on the Napoleon route and it was wall to wall sunshine And has been like that for 4 days now. I am in Pampalona right now the weather is fantastic- blue cloudless skies.

The weather can change really quickly and before you know it, you can’t see in front of your hand. It’s like a mist that descends on you. You can’t tell up from down.

 

[Kathor1]

I don’t quite understand.
I personally walked from St Jean to Roncesvalles on Wednesday 5th April on the Napoleon route and it was wall to wall sunshine And has been like that for 4 days now. I am in Pampalona right now the weather is fantastic- blue cloudless skies.

You are right, it is perhaps worth pointing out that there wasn’t a blizzard and the weather was good and it was stable.

Due to the fact that so many people are walking the Napoleon route and so many are unfamiliar with hillwalking, these things do happen: a bad ankle, a heart attack, someone did get lost or took a wrong turn and noticed it only after a while, people do overestimate their resilience to low temperature in the evening or their endurance after many hours of walking on their first day, they start later than planned or too late in the day, it took them much longer than expected to reach the top, they are mentally incapable of turning back and walk back down again and call a taxi - or it simply doesn’t occur to them that one can do this - and so on …

The regional Spanish authorities have gone out of their way to make this hilly path that poses no technical problems whatsoever ultra-safe for Camino walkers. Most of the trail is on tarmac road, the relatively short part (about 5 km) that isn’t has a modern shelter hut, three SOS emergency telephones at the beginning, middle and end (unless I am mistaken), and more than a hundred numbered wooden poles are marking this highest part of the trail.

Still, dozens of such incidents and rescue operations happen throughout the season from April to October and all we can do is try to see whether there is a lesson in it to be learnt and repeated again and again in order to minimise the frequency of these incidents.

 

[Lindsay from Scotland]

Thank you Kather1na
I was beginning to think I was in some scene from “Macbeth”

 

[Lindsay from Scotland]

My objection to this whole thread is that it is based on speculation and and second hand knowledge

 

[C clearly]

My objection to this whole thread is that it is based on speculation and and second hand knowledge

Isn't it based on the report via Twitter from the Cuenta oficial del Servicio de Bomberos de Navarra?

In any case, the information and some reminders of hazards have now been communicated, so I will close the thread.