Accident Report – Maglia – France

The first three weeks of the 2010 Euro Canyon tour went fine.. but sadly it came to a crashing halt..

The Tour began with a visit to the French side of the Pyrenees.. 5 days with French Franck resulted in 6 Canyons and & Via Ferrata. Excellent fun.

Then we popped over to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees to meet another buddy of mine, Huesca local and canyon guru Enrique. Another 5 days and another 6 Canyons. Large and late snowfall on that side of the the Pyrenees resulted in some heavy whitewater Canyons.. Mucho Auga was the name of the game.. highlights included a not-so-friendly river with a name that translates to ‘the Devils Mouth’ and a fine slot that ended with a 120m waterfall into the valley below.. Some very, very impressive canyons in the area.. but more on that latter.. plus some videos and photos eventually.

After Spain we made our way (with a few stops for more Via Ferrata’ing) over to the Alpes Maritime Region of France.. down in the bottom right corner of the country.. Awesome Limestone dominated mountains rising up out of the Mediterranean. With the idea of bagging few newbies in the area, my main goal was to drag my lady friend down my all time favourite canyon.. the Clue de la Maglia. I had been talking it up since we arrived.

Canyon Maglia is a funny one. I did it two years ago and think it is the most awesome’est canyon ever. It consists of continuous slides, down climbs and abseils with a bonus underground section towards the end. The adventure takes place within beautiful limestone rock and wicked emerald green pools. The water is so nice and the enjoyment level so high that it draws huge crowds of people, and I mean huge.. On a busy summers day more then 100 people have been known to pass through Natures finest water park. The canyon is relatively easy, but has a few spots that that require care. During peak times there are an average of 3 incidents requiring helicopter rescue every week!!! The canyon has little plaques with numbers above every waterfall. Beginning at 21 and counting down towards the bottom of the canyon.. these are used as reference numbers to locate accident victims!

So anyways.. our day started fine. Parked the car in the little village at the base of the canyon and began the hike up the mountain at about 9am. Reached the top an hour latter, had a snack and got suited up, ready to roll by 10:30. Almost instantly the fun begins. Some little slides, one or two small abseils, lots of little down climbs.. I note to myself that the water level is a little higher then on my previous trip. No big deal. Just makes some of the slides a bit faster and some of the down climbs located in the flow a little trickier as the water has a bit of push behind it. About 1/3rd of the way through, I’m happy cause we are making good time.. I am conscious of a large group on our tail and don’t really want to have them pass and then get stuck behind them. But at this stage it’s all good.. Big smiles are on both our faces. So we arrive at a small 2m down-climb in the fast flowing water.. I ask my girl if she would like to go first. She declines. She is a little un-easy about down-climbing in the swift water. I climb down, no worries.. The water is a little pushy and I jump the last 30cm of the low angle waterfall. I drop into the boil under the waterfall, touch nothing, nothing unusual.. all good. The missus expresses that she would feel more comfortable jumping approx. 1m from a good stance, rather then down-climbing in the swift water.. I check the depth.. seems good.. I can’t get right under the waterfall as the current won’t allow, but I was just there and it seemed fine.. it also looks easy to jump to the spot where I am from where she is standing. I give her the thumbs up and let the water take me away. With my back toward her I hear her jump. I turn to see her emerge from the water saying “ouch ouch ouch ouch” The look on her face is not good. She is in pain. I quickly swim over and help her through the water over to a dry spot where a guided group is having lunch.. the guide comes over to offer his assistance..

At first I was hoping that she had just banged her leg on the wall and all would be sweet in a few mins. From the curse words that flowed from her mouth and the look on her face I could tell she was clearly in a bit of pain and maybe some mild shock as to what had happened. The guide and I got her body out of the water.. but left the injured leg still submerged in the cold water to help numb the pain and reduce any swelling.. The guide, who speaks only a little English and lots of French asks whats happened and where it hurts.

We gently felt the leg to locate the injury and to search for protruding bones. She could still wiggle and feel her toes but had constant pain from the lower shin and heel area.. Said her foot felt very heavy when unsupported. I got out the first aid kit and we gave her some painkillers.

The guide told us jumping in that spot had caused many an accident.. He said the best thing to do was to stay put and call for help. We tried the mobile phone, but the slot was too deep in this section and we had no signal. The guide informed us that he and his group would go ahead and call for help once out of the canyon. So after about 15mins the guide and his clients took off down the canyon. The time was 12:15

We waited.. the group behind us came past.. more groups came past.. all offering assistance and opinions.. one lady who past us told a story of how she had broken her leg in exactly the same waterfall just a year ago. People offered to stick around and help out.. but both the missus and I insisted they continue on their way- We knew a helicopter would eventually arrive and the less people involved the better and safer a heli evac would be. So we continued to wait..

I kept asking her to rate the pain from 1 to 10 and she averaged about 6. She was in good spirits the whole time and just kept saying how sorry she was. She expressed her disappointment as up until the accident she was having great fun and told how she was looking forward to the cave section and completing the canyon! We also discussed our plan of action for when the helicopter would arrive.

So anyways.. about 15:00 (3hrs after the accident) we heard the chopper overhead. As per our plan, I helped her back into the water and into the protection of a small cave. We had heard from some of the passers by that a lady had been killed during a rescue just two days earlier. Rocks loosened by the wind turbulence from the chopper had stuck her.. http://www.nicematin.com/article/soc…n-de-la-maglia

Once mi-lady was well hidden, I got into sight of the chopper and signalled to them that we were the ones they were looking for. They signaled back, hovered around a bit then lowered a rescue guy down the line. Once he hit the canyon floor I helped him to get the patient stabilised. He then connected her to the cable and the chopper hauled her up and out.. The chopper flew her to the village at the base of the canyon. It then returned for me and the rescue guy. While we were waiting for the chopper to return I quizzed him about rescues in this and surrounding canyons. He answered as best he could, his English wasn’t strong.. but far superior to my French. He also quizzed me about canyons in Australia and we agreed to swap emails so he could come do some ozcanyons himself one day. Then came my turn to get hauled up and out. He connected the cable to the attachment point on my canyon harness and up I go.. the views were awesome but when I get near the top it looks like the blades are going to chop me up! Scary. After I’m inside the chopper, they lower the cable back down and the rescue guy clips in. He doesn’t get all the way up before the chopper is off.. Must be a frightening thing, flying through the air suspended on a cable dangling from the chopper.

We also fly to the town at the base of the canyon and land the chopper beside some police cars. Mi-lady is all smiles as she is attended to by the paramedics. They decide they will put her back in the chopper and fly her to a big hospital on the coast to get checked out.. In the meantime I get to chatting with the rescue guys and policeman about canyons and stuff. We talk about canyon Maglia.. The rock that got my girl, between plaques 15 & 14, is notorious for breaking legs! The rescue guys talk seriously about taking photos so they can return with the local authorities and dynamite the offending rock!! I suggested they just put another plaque reminding people to take extra care in this location and not to jump.. They laughed this off as a silly idea. The helicopter takes off again. I climb into the back of the police car and am driven back to my hire car. They give me directions to the hospital and we say our goodbyes..

A nice thing about France is that not only are Rescue operations 100% free, but medical and rehabilitation is also 100% FREE

It was a ugly situation.. but it could have be a lot worse.. As far as canyons to break your leg in, Maglia is a good one as there is an almost constant flow of people coming through.. this meant I could stay with her rather then having to leave and go for help myself.. rescue personnel are also very familiar with the canyon so locating us was easy for them.. as the guide who helped us in the canyon repeatedly said (with a heavy french accent) “don’t worry, shit happens”

All the French Canyoners I have descended stuff with over the years have always joked about the size of my pack. I have it loaded with First-Aid, extra food, Emergency Blanket etc.. “What is in that? Why do you need all this stuff” I tell them I am always prepared to be self-sufficient in-case something goes wrong.. In this case, despite not using 99% of what I had for emergency situations, I was still glad to have it..

Once again, some hard lessons were learn’ed.. Next time whenever there is doubt, i shall slow down and consider options.. I should also know by now that things I am comfortable doing (eg; Downclimbing in the water) may not be so easy for others.. It would have been very easy for my to use the Kung-Fu grip and help lower my partner into the water below.. or use myself as a meat anchor to set up a small abseil or handline.. Doh! Next time fur’shore

cheese joe

a link to info on the Canyon (in French) http://www.descente-canyon.com/canyo…35/Maglia.html