The Andalusian vertical rope rescue competition team, Espeleosocorro Sin Fronteras, has achieved second place in Grimpday South America, one of the most important vertical rescue championships in the world, held in Brazil from February 21 to 24. The members of Espeleosocorro Sin Fronteras have trained hard for this competition, with the support of several companies, such as LA LÍNEA VERTICAL, one of their main sponsors and the company that provided them with their facilities for this tough training.
Espeleosocorro Sin Fronteras has been the only Spanish team that has participated in this competition and its members say they are “very satisfied with the work done, the feat achieved and the number of new friends made from the world of rescue”.
They highlight that their participation in Grimpday South America has been “a formidable experience”, in which they have faced “very diverse rescues and where the combination of physical and technical demand has been a constant”. In total, they have carried out ten rescues “in fabulous settings” and they assure that they have fought for the first position “until the end”. They thank the organization for their hospitality, because they have made them feel “at home”.
Development of the competition
The first day of the championship was mainly for the presentation of the teams and the explanation of the functioning of the tests, so the members of Espeleosocorro Sin Fronteras lived it as a day of leisure, which they took advantage of to connect with the rest of the participants. They highlight the good atmosphere that there was, as there was “a quite positive feeling of brotherhood”.
The competition itself began on the second day, with tests that took place at the Army facilities and in which the participants had to demonstrate their dexterity and agility at heights. The tests were carried out in four stages, both inside and outside the building, all of them with a high level of complexity.
The tests on the third day took place on a bridge about 60 meters high, in a jungle environment. There, the participants had to rescue a supposed cyclist who had fallen and, then, throw two ropes to go down one and go up the other. This maneuver had to be performed by all members of each team.
On the fourth and final day, the competition took place in a football stadium, where the participants had to assemble a gantry crane and then a zip line from the highest part of the roof to the street to remove a stretcher, which they then had to move through the hole of a staircase to an upper floor and, finally, they had to lower an injured person from the highest part of the stadium, make a pendulum with the stretcher and raise it again.
A great effort that has had its reward
The members of Espeleosocorro Sin Fronteras have had to make a great effort during training and preparation for Grimpday, as they are all volunteers who self-finance and train in their free time. Now they have seen that all that effort “has paid off; not only for the trophy, but for how the tests went, how good we felt in them and the passions we felt from the spectators, other teams and those who followed us on social media. It has been exciting”. They say they are “proud of this great team that we have and that we also form with all the sponsors that drive our project”.
In this way, they thank the support of their sponsors, because “this dream come true for us would not have been possible without the incorporation into the team of LA LÍNEA VERTICAL, Encorda2, Tuur Aventure Experts, Rodcle, Humaventura, El Bazar, Rótulos Palma and Grupo de Montaña Alta Ruta”.
At LA LÍNEA VERTICAL we are very proud to have been part of this great adventure.
