The concern generated by the increasing number of residents of Bariloche who do crossings and mountain sports, on the brink of the prohibitions established by the quarantine, forced the policy regarding these activities to be revised.
–
During the last weekend there were hundreds of people who visited the Cathedral area, despite the fact that the ski center is closed. There were also walkers in other sectors with abundant snow and the Andean Club relief commission had to carry out two rescues in the area of Cerro Goye.
Mayor Gustavo Gennuso called for a meeting today, which will include, among others, National Parks, the Andean Club and the Argentine Association of Mountain Guides (AAGM), in order to evaluate how to avoid greater risks.
One option would be to intensify information and prevention campaign to promote “self-care”, another would aim to enable Cerro Catedral as soon as possible, to “decompress” concurrence to other more difficult to control areas.
The president of the Club Andino Bariloche, Martín Enevoldsen, said that “when the winter season arrives and people find themselves in good weather and see such good snow, it is difficult for them to comply with prevention measures.”
He assured that people go out to hike or cross-country ski “without being prepared” and in those cases there is a danger of defying the prohibition and demanding help in case of injury or loss, which “endangers other people.”
In the few spaces located within the municipal ejido (such as Cerro Otto, Catedral or Llao Llao) individual outdoor activities are allowed, but the same does not happen in the National Park, where most of the circuits extend.
“We are having a problem because there is a gray with the issue of permits and not everyone knows what can be done and whereEnevoldsen said. He proposed waiting for the meeting with the mayor so that there is “something more organic and defined.”
The Andean Club works with Parks and the AAGM in defining the trails and bites that will be enabled for trekking, although there is still no precise date.
The last weekend they toured the pit to the Frey shelter. The idea would in principle be to open this path and that of the Jakob refuge, up to half of the routes. Another possibility is to enable Challhuaco.
The president of the AAGM, Martín Ross, admitted that the situation “is difficult” because “there are many people with a kind of desperation to go out, but who do not have the knowledge, the equipment or the experience”.
He considered that the appropriate thing would be “instead of prohibiting, channeling what can be done safely.” Along these lines, Ross is a supporter of “Seeing to open the Cathedral, which is the safest, due to the easy access” He also said that a stepped and regulated track is better for skiers whose level is not enough to move in “off piste” places.
There is also a significant boom in cross-country skiing, to the point that it is difficult to get equipment, new or used.
In any case, Bariloche would wait to enable the Cathedral until at least the 17th, to comply with national plans, and should also take into account what other winter centers do.
The same caution is what conditions the projects of National Parks, which already enabled trekking circuits in San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura, but doubts in Bariloche, where the pressure of the population is much greater.
Ross said that the AAGM defends on principle the right to free access to the mountain, but “it has to be with security.” He pointed out that with the last snowfall one of the factors to take into account is the risk of avalanches and that is why he proposed that a group of experts be able to monitor and report before any rating.
Avoidable rescue
The Relief Commission had to attend on Sunday to rescue three people in “rough” areas, due to emergencies caused by reckless behavior.
According to the CAX report, in one case it was a man “without the technical capacity” to be in the place he had accessed and in another “they had no knowledge of the place or adequate equipment” One of the rescues lasted until midnight,
They recommended, apart from the sanitary measures for the coronavirus, that the hiker make sure to have the appropriate equipment, communication, map, weather and snow cover reports, estimated time and itinerary and a known person who does not participate but be vigilant on departure to give notice in case of delay.
–
