Rescuers have told how a woman could have died on a Highland estate after she became lost in blizzard conditions.
The lone female walker was attempting to descend a peak on Coignafearn Estate, near Strathdearn, on Saturday evening when she became disorientated.
As temperatures plummeted to –10C and blizzard conditions took hold, she called emergency services for urgent assistance.
Three members of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team raced to the scene after the call came in at around 6.30pm.
The team was assisted by gamekeeper Andy Dempster of Coignafearn Estate, who drove them as far up the hill as the snow would allow.
From there, the mountaineers trekked in blizzard conditions for around six miles to locate the “scared” walker.
Six hour rescue operation ends in success
Team leader Iain Cornfoot said it was likely she wouldn’t have made it through the night had they not located her.
He said: “Yesterday the freezing level lowered during the day so we were getting heavy snow on the summits and a lot of the mountains.
“What should have been quite a straightforward rescue, driving a Land Rover up onto the estate tracks, turned into a bit more of a difficult one due to the snow covering and the poor visibility.
“Given the weather conditions, the team members found when they were making their way onto the hill, if you can’t get out of that, that wind strips the heat off your body pretty quick.
“It certainly would have been a different picture if we hadn’t been able to find her last night relatively early on.”
Team members from the Cairngorm-based rescue team were keeping in contact with the stranded female through WhatsApp as they waded through deep snow and endured freezing conditions on the Highland estate.
However, Mr Cornfoot admits due to the poor signal, there were long periods of no communication.
He added: “She was very scared and rightly so due to the conditions.
“As time went on, it took us certainly longer than we expected to locate her because of the poor weather, and the communications in that area were poor as well.”
Once located, the team spent some time raising her body temperature before beginning their descent.
The rescue operation took more than six hours; far longer than the team initially thought.
Mr Cornfoot thanked staff at the Coignafearn Estate for their help.
“The help we get from the local estates is always much appreciated but that certainly made a big difference last night, especially given the conditions,” the team leader added.
“I think it would have been a different story if we hadn’t found the lady last night.”
