There are now four deaths in the mountains this Christmas due to avalanches. Yesterday, the Mountain Civil Guard found the lifeless body of the buried mountaineer Wednesday in the Urdiceto area, in the … Pyrenean valley of Bielsa (Huesca), snowshoeing. The victim was 55 years old and born in Madrid, although she lived in Zaragoza. The accident occurred around 8:00 p.m. the day before yesterday. It was a companion of the deceased, unharmed, who was able to go down to the Urdiceto shelter and notify 112 Aragón, who began a search operation in which several agents accompanied by rescue dogs participated.
The latest snow and avalanche danger information bulletin from Aemet (National Meteorological Agency), dated the last day of the year, already warned that in most of the massifs of the Navarrese and Aragonese Pyrenees there was a risk level 3 out of 5. Specifically, in Jacetania, Gállego, Sobrarbe and Robagorza. “Unfortunately, many think that being at level 3 is an ‘intermediate’ danger, when in reality the description of this danger is ‘notable'”, Fernando Rivero Díaz, captain of the Civil Guard Mountain Service (Greim), told ABC these days. “Only with level 1 or 2 could we be relatively calm, but without letting our guard down.” Inside Catalan Pyreneesthe latest forecasts are very similar and even worse than in the Aragonese depending on the massifs.
Alerts were recorded from 2,100 meters above sea level in the Ter and Freder Natural Park, on the northern slope of Cadí and in Moixerdó. Risk level 3, notable, was activated in the Ter and Freder Natural Park, in Perafita and Puigpedrosin Pallaresa, in the mountains of Ribagorzana, Vall Fosca and in the Aran Valley and the northern strip of Pallaresa. In the coming days there will be no big changes.
Weak layers in shaded areas of high altitude
A slightly weaker melt-thaw cycle is expected, with thinner surface crusts. The main problem will remain the persistence of fragile layers in the shade at high altitude. These are likely to break with the passage of a single person, even in areas where they have previously traveled. The volume of potentially mobilizable snow can give rise to medium or large avalanches.
A risk situation very similar to that experienced in recent days, in which we also had to regret the death of three other mountaineers due to a snow avalanche in the surroundings of the Tablato peak, among them the famous pediatrician of the Hospital of San Jorge de Huesca, the popularizer and mountaineer Jorge García Dihinx, in Panticosa (Huesca), who raised the alarm in the Spanish part of the Pyrenees. This avalanche also cost the life of the popularizer’s companion, Natalia Román, and another mountaineer from Irun (Gipuzkoa), Eneko Arrastua, after being buried. During this incident, another woman from the municipality of Ordizia, Gipuzkoa, was also slightly injured, showing signs of hypothermia.
On this occasion, the snow avalanche which surprised the expedition was an avalanche of approximately 300 meters wide700 in length and depths that reached 12 meters on certain points, according to the lieutenant of the Civil Guard and belongs to the Greim (Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group) of Jaca, Bain Gutiérrez, who presented himself Monday evening at the helipad of Boltaña (Huesca).
The pediatrician, known for his extensive awareness-raising activity on social networks, where he had more than 300,000 followers, was a great mountain enthusiast and snow sports enthusiast. In fact, he was considered by some colleagues as a true “messiah” for summit enthusiasts.
His death, along with the three others, led experts to recommend extreme caution. In addition to avalanche danger bulletins, there is ATES mapping which, for climbers with snow science knowledge, can supplement information on the ground. “Avalanche danger bulletins that study the snowpack in a specific valley are quite reliable, while those who give solid forecasts are not that solid. Giving a forecast for the entire Pyrenees will obviously have errors,” says Captain Rivero Díaz, who highlights the importance “of having technical and snow knowledge in high mountain activities in case of carrying out any of these activities.”
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