Directions for hikers

Hiking is a mountain activity suitable for a very diverse audience, as long as the physical and technical difficulty of the route is appropriately selected according to the characteristics of the group or each person. Thus, you can find very simple, properly waymarked routes suitable for people without any previous experience, as well as physically and technically challenging ones that follow barely waymarked trails and which require a good command of mountain orientation techniques. In other words, the latter require extensive prior experience to avoid getting lost and/or having an accident during the hike.

However, even on the best-marked and easiest trails, you cannot be careless and think there is nothing to watch out for just because it is an easy activity.  You must consider that the weather can be adverse (very cold or very hot, with poor visibility due to fog, etc.), or very variable. In addition, people are also quite variable. We are affected by fatigue, distractions, and lack of attention, heat, cold, our mood, discomfort or illnesses, poor hydration and nutrition, prior injuries, and, of course, various accidents and incidents that can occur during the hike; and this variability must be multiplied by each group member. The point of preparing and planning the activity is having the necessary resources and information to know what to do in the event that these or other variables turn into a problem in the mountains.

In short, every hiking activity, no matter how simple and short it may seem, must be prepared amd planned for. Additionally, the weather forecast needs to be checked and the hikers need to be accordingly equipped. Anyone taking part in a hike must stay well-oriented, pay close attention to their surroundings, their psychophysical state, and that of the people who have come along, ensuring that no one gets distracted or lost, and making the appropriate decisions as the day progresses. Poor planning, overconfidence, and overestimating one's abilities are common causes of many mountain accidents and affect both inexperienced and experienced people alike.

Check the documentation prepared by the FEMECV Safety and Health Committee to delve into the most important aspects of mountain safety and check the courses organized by the Federation at its training centers: Valencian School of High Mountain" (EVAM) and the "Authorized Center for Sports Education" (TOSSAL).

 

““Try not to leave your footprint where centuries have refrained from doing so. Contribute to the protection of the natural environment by leading by example.”

 

Mountain Emergencies.

The main question when it comes to mountain accidents is not whether they will happen but when.  Anyone venturing onto a trail must keep in mind that, even if they take adequate preventive measures, there is always a potential risk that can turn into an actual accident. You may go to the mountains thousands of times without any mishap, and this may make you believe it is due to your skills and right decisions. This might be the case, but sometimes, even if you are not the main cause, you find yourself in the middle of the mountain with someone in your group who cannot move while nightfall, a storm, snowfall, a blizzard, fog, or any other inconvenient element is approaching. It is then when your level of preparedness to respond to mountain emergencies can be decisive.

Most times, you might be able to solve the problem with a simple phone call to someone who can pick you up at a nearby point. Or perhaps you might be able to solve the issue with a bit of rest, reducing the pace, drinking water, or eating something. However, anyone can tell that a slight worsening of the situation may require an urgent and appropriate reaction.

Emergency response in the mountains has different levels of complexity. The minimum procedure, under favorable conditions, can be as simple as getting yourself, the group, and the victim to the safest possible location, protecting them, accompanying them, attending to them, and calling 112. However, this course of action is insufficient if the conditions are somewhat less favorable, either due to the nature of the problem, the environmental conditions, or a combination of both. Simply having weather conditions that prevent the rescue helicopter from flying (at night, poor visibility due to fog, or strong winds) can lead to your staying in the mountains longer. If you also do not know exactly where you are, the rescue can be further delayed; and if you have no signal either, everything starts going south.

Ongoing training in first aid is important, but if we want to be prepared for longer routes in more isolated environments, it is even more important to have specific training for mountain environments. The skills and knowledge needed to endure and make the right decisions until we are rescued can be vital: what to do in the event of an allergic reaction or hypoglycemia, how to stop a hemorrhage, how to immobilise a fracture, how to protect yourself from cold or heat, etc. Moreover, mountain emergencies require basic knowledge of the types of means of communication at our disposal, the procedures for requesting help, and the operations of mountain rescue teams. Considering all this, we must prepare the equipment that we are likely to need in case of an emergency.

Check the documentation prepared by the FEMECV Safety and Health Committee to delve into the most important aspects of mountain safety and check the courses organized by the Federation at its training centers: Valencian School of High Mountain" (EVAM) and the "Authorized Center for Sports Education" (TOSSAL).