Let’s hope for a positive outcome for the poor chap. The mountains can present all sorts of challenges, but this again reinforces the need to keep folks constantly posted of where you are. Some good apps now that can send tracking info to friends and loved ones, and if necessary there is gear to send SOS signals via satelite in the event of emergency and no mobile signal. Think from iphone 14 you also have SOS satelite facility.
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Why are these people going missing?
I was brought up by the sea and learned to ask about the tides if I was not local.
Likewise, not walking up Coniston Old Man in high heels.
You should always leave your route in a prominent place so people know where to look for you.
It seems as though Brits abroad think they are invincible.
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I guess (well, I actually know) it’s hard to come to terms with reduced ability as one gets older. How I want to rush up that three metre ladder to trim the vines, as I would have ten years ago. On the other hand one doesn’t want to be an age wimp (to coin another phrase) or succumb to sensible advice.
I think the key point is understanding your personal limitations and managing within that, as think age is not so much of a barrier if you still have the capability, plus conditions obviously if it’s an outdoor pursuit like hiking. Young or old, if you don’t have the capability and/or know how and/or kit/equipment/preparation, then the risk is you’ll suffer at some point. I know a couple of folks in late 70’s who are super fit, and probably alot fitter than most in their 20’s, so I don’t see age as the barrier. A friend shared a video of Ernestine Shepherd recently - 87 and still going strong exercise wise!
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Yes, from iphone 14.
I urge anyone with a 14 or 15 to learn about the SOS facility. Also, anyone with a medical condition, enter the details in the health app that will be transmitted with an SOS call.
You do not need to be hiking in the wilderness - many minor roads in France are ‘off grid’…
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Sorry but having lived in Cumbria for fifteen years, I know full well that Brits (mainly English) don’t need to go abroad for that sort of mishap.
Every year winter and summer many get rescued on the high Cumbrian fells because they didn’t check the weather or tell people where they were walking that day, or were relying on cell phone navigation. Often pitifully equipped with insufficient water, lack of a space blanket and so many other basic survival aids.
The poor chap who’s currently missing is from not very mountainous Tonbridge Wells and according to his wife, has no experience of high level walking - I’m sure he’s an intelligent person, but he seems to have been ill-pezpared for this hike.
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I read a tip recently. If it was on this forum, apologies. If you find yourself in one of these situations and if you can, change your voice mail to a description of where you are or where you have fallen. If your battery expires the details are still there to be listened to.
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Couple of apps I have which are handy in case of emergency:
Echosos
Oslocation
But as others have said, having the right gear is essential, especially if going further afield. Fortunately I’ve never had to use my real emergency gear, but nevertheless still always take it wherever I go as a matter of habit.
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Having spent a day running up and down a 4.5m ladder and having paid the price in terms of back and hips going on strike I sympathise.
One of the ongoing bugbears is some way of preventing leaves blocking the gutter which is “fit and forget” - none of the solutions sourced in the UK worked as gutters here are not nearly as wide as those I have in France. Neither does sticking a crapaudine in the top of the downpipe - it prevents leaves entering the downpipe well enough but they just collect around it and block the drain.
Settled on 1/4" mesh, tucked under the tiles, then wrapped over the gutter and cable tied down to keep it in place - trial run on the shorter/lower gutters has been a success so last trip I tackled the long front gutter - 12m of it, some 4-4.5m off the ground which , just for fun, is sloping so getting the ladder secure and level is a challenge. Also the ladder is a bit too short for the far end which made for some slightly nerve wracking moments - but all in place and I’m hoping that is the end of the job.
Need to tackle the back - which is easy for 2/3rds of the length of the gutter, then impossible for the last 1/3
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Exactly, I used to live half an hour from Windermere on Morecambe Bay
I saw that, but at Stickle Tarn in Langdale. Came across a couple, he in sandals and she in heels. How she got there in heels I dont know. But she’d stumbled, twisting her ankle and getting a small gash above the ankle. I had a first aid kit so washed and dressed the wound. The guy said I needed to go down straight away to get Mountain Rescue. I told him he could go down himself, silly idiot and left.
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Absolutely. Like you, I had planned to do Canigou in the next year or two and did quite a bit of research on it. It won’t happen now unfortunately as I’ve been diagnosed with a nasty spinal issue that I’m currently having treatment for. Can’t go walking for much more than an hour at a time at the moment but hope to build that up gradually. It’ll never be good enough for Canigou though 
That’s a little sad, but hopefully you get a positive solution for the back and you stay mobile. Even managing an hour at a time is good, so still positive, and still more movement than many achieve 
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Thanks for the thoughts. I’m a lot more mobile now than I was in the spring, thanks to treatment. Then, I couldn’t do more than 10 minutes at a time. It’ll just take time.
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probably a good idea to keep your distance at the moment, anyway… 
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Not like the guy in 127 hours 
Recently a fit, sporty local 59 year old man failed to return from a walk round his village. Despite the most immense search, hundreds of volunteers, dogs, etc etc., he wasn’t found for weeks. We don’t yet know cause of death but he was finally found in undergrowth metres from a path.
It happens.
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Looks like they’ve now called off the search for the unfortunate chap. Apparently, being the holiday season, quite a few other people have also gone missing so the rescue services are focussing on the more recent cases. So it looks like a rather sad end to the tale.
Looks like a case of an otherwise intelligent person omitting to make a series of simple but fundamental precautions before venturing into a very unfamiliar and potentially dangerous environment
Unfortunately Common Sense is not very common and has nothing to do with what we tend to think of as “intelligence”.
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