Dramatic footage of a rescue of two climbers on a Scottish mountain has been released.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency video shows the pair plucked from Aonoch Mor near Fort William in Lochaber.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team were alerted on Friday night to the climbers’ plight.
They were suck, crag fast, on Golden Oldie on the west face of 4006 feet high Aonoch Mor – which is two miles east of Ben Nevis.
“The Lochaber MRT were called in to help but due to the inaccessible location, the Coastguard helicopter based at Inverness reached the casualties first and winched them on board. Despite their ordeal, they did not require medical attention,” said a MCA spokeswoman.
Lochaber MRT, Scotland’s busiest mountain rescue team, have also defended charity walkers – despite admitting they can stretch their resources.
The team cover Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain and which attracts over 100,000 walkers each year – many of them trekking for good causes
The team said that while “it is unfair to criticise every charity walker – just by the sheer numbers now taking part in charity events it is going to impact on mountain rescue resources.”
But after a national newspaper article at the weekend claimed that “mountain rescuers struggle with clueless climbers,” Lochaber MRT hit back.
In a statement the team said: “The vast majority of the time rescues are for genuine reasons where the incident was outside the casualties control, a slip, a stumble or conditions overtaking them – and could actually have happened to anyone in the urban situation or for instance on a forest walk.
“It is just that location and conditions that make the incident in the mountain a bit more serious.
“Our experience is that the vast majority of charity walks are well organised with qualified guides and safety back up.
“If you see the caterpillar trail of people heading up Ben Nevis, mainly between May and September, on Three Peaks and other challenges you would expect us to be out far more often than we are if these groups were not well organised and supported.
“There are poorly organised groups and we have been called out to quite a few times to get the misguided but these are by far the exception.
“It is unfair to criticise every charity walker. Just by the sheer numbers now taking part in charity events it is going to impact on mountain rescue resources.
“It is something we have to adapt for and for the authorities to be aware of. However, as long as teams are prepared and resourced then they should be able to deal with the increase in demand.
“Over the last five years Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team have dealt with over 100 call outs per year. The vast majority of these are in the high mountain environment where access, terrain and conditions are very challenging.
“Even as volunteers, we have adapted and like any other organisation which grows organically, and we have invested in both people and equipment to meet these increasing demands. At times it is stressful and we can be stretched but if our team do not sufficient resources we have colleagues in other teams who are always willing assist us.
“Perhaps the organisers of the charity events should not forget that the mountain rescuers who do occasionally come out and assist when some of their charges get into difficulty are charities in their own right. They are manned by volunteers who depend on donations to fund the service. If you are organising an event in a specific mountain area it would be nice if you were to consider a donation to the local team.”
