The climber who was injured on Wednesday at Agulla des Frare, on Puig Major, fell approximately 10 metres, causing a possible hip fracture, and was left suspended in the air about 100 metres above the ground. His two companions, who also had to be rescued by the Guardia Civil and the Mallorca Fire Brigade, were at different points on the same cliff face from which they were unable to continue climbing or descend on their own.
It was in the early afternoon when the climbers called the emergency services after finding themselves trapped on the Agulla des Frare and after one of them suffered an accident while exploring a route.
According to the Guardia Civil Command in the Balearic Islands, he fell about 10 metres and was left suspended in the air about 100 metres above the ground, anchored to a safety rope.
The Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (Greim) and the Air Service were immediately activated and flew to the scene by helicopter. After an initial assessment of the site, the officers confirmed that the three climbers were stuck on the vertical wall, forcing them to carry out three separate and highly difficult rescues.
To rescue the first climber, who was injured, they had to use a rope-cutting manoeuvre from the helicopter, with the direct intervention of the rescuer and securing the casualty before releasing him from the anchor. The second climber was halfway up, anchored at a difficult point on the route.
A helicopter crane was also necessary for his evacuation, using a technical device called a “Lezard”, designed for this type of high-risk vertical manoeuvres.
The third climber was already at the top of the Agulla, on a small platform, which allowed the helicopter to land partially and evacuate him directly from the ground. While the injured climber, who was suffering severe pain in his hip, possibly due to a fracture caused by a heavy blow against the wall, was taken by helicopter to Son Espases University Hospital, the other two were evacuated unharmed to the Cúber reservoir.