The members of the High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) of the Hautes-Pyrénées were very busy this winter. They have carried out a record number of interventions since the beginning of the year. The gendarmes of Pierrefitte-Nestala carried out 85 interventions since the beginning of the year against 37 over the same period last year, 115 injured in 2022 compared to 42 in 2021.
Jean-Marc Bougy, the commander of the Pierrefitte-Nestalas PGHM explains this record number of interventions by several elements: “first of all the covid, the French have not been able to enjoy the mountain for the past two years, so there were a lot of people this winter. There are a real passion for the Pyrenees. More mountain practitioners, favorable weather which increased the number of rescue operations. Perhaps also the public was less informed, you have to be very measured about what I say, but perhaps _the audience was more urban than rural_with less knowledge of the mountain environment.“