In addition to two fairly serious accidents in Chamrousse and Deux-Alpes, rescuers from the High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) of Isère, Samu and civil security carried out several interventions, particularly in the Belledonne massif, in order to provide assistance to people who find themselves in difficulty while hiking. Walkers were often under-equipped and stranded on trails where the snow had frozen.
This Sunday morning, the PGHM is launching a call for extreme caution to mountain users, reminding that despite the magnificent weather and the bright sun, the conditions can be dangerous.
Stay lower in altitude and on the South and East slopes
“Where we have the most problems, it is not necessarily very very high around 2,000 meters, but in the areas where there was a little bit of snow, it melted and it re-glazed at night around 1,700 meters. Yesterday, we did a lot of work for the season, notably under Lake Crop in Sainte-Agnès en Belledonne where there was a little ice on the path. People were stuck and a little panicked. We have had several calls,” we explain to the PGHM.
“As they leave, people see that there is no snow, and as soon as they find themselves on small slopes in the shade, on the path, there is ice […] People sometimes absolutely not equipped, in city sneakers. For someone very experienced, mountain shoes might be enough but otherwise small crampons would be necessary for an average hiker. The best is still to stay lower in altitude and on the southern and eastern slopes,” we still say at the high mountain gendarmerie platoon where we therefore call on hikers to exercise the greatest caution.
A young man injured while sledding and a trail runner falls thirty meters
In addition to providing assistance to people in difficulty or “technically blocked”, the PGHM notably went to Chamrousse, at the bottom of the station, not far from the slopes, where a 16-year-old young man was seriously injured after hitting a sledding obstacle. Hit in the head, pelvis and right leg, he was first taken care of by the firefighters but his condition required the intervention of a doctor, the PGHM and a doctor from the Samu went to the places with the Civil Security helicopter.
In Deux-Alpes, a trailer fell around thirty meters after slipping. Suffering from severe back pain, he was also taken care of by the trackers, then by the PGHM.
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