A Coastguard winchman had to climb a cliff to reach four walkers who became stuck on a dangerous ledge on a Skye mountain.
The group of men, who were visitors to the area, were discovered at around 2,000ft on Bla Bheinn and airlifted to safety by Stornoway-based Coastguard helicopter Rescue 948.
A spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: “The walkers were descending the mountain when they got into difficulties due to fading daylight and decided to call for help at around 8.40pm.
“The group lost communications with the emergency services and a coordinated effort from the UK Coastguard helicopter, Kyle and Broadford Coastguard Rescue Teams, Skye Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) and Police Scotland was quickly put into action.”
The Coastguard helicopter was the first to reach the men, who were stuck on the ledge.
The spokeswoman said: “Winch operator Robert Glendinning and winchman Peter Wood had to use all their skills to rescue the four – the winchman even climbing the cliff at one point – to reach them.”
She added that the walkers, who were airlifted to Broadford Airfield, were uninjured and required no medical treatment.
Skye MRT leader Gerry Akroyd (COR) said they received a call about the incident at around 8.30pm on Thursday evening.
He said one member of the group, made up of two Germans, a Czechoslovakian and a Frenchman, had managed to dial 999 for help, but the mountain rescue team were unable to call them back to get their location due to a poor mobile phone signal.
He said: “We had no grid reference and couldn’t get back to them to establish were they were.
“We called out the team and we gathered at the base and, about an hour later, one of the group eventually managed to get a signal.”
Mr Akroyd said the walkers were not able to provide a grid reference, but the helicopter crew spotted a torchlight, which pinpointed their location. The helicopter then went in and winched the men out.
The rescue team leader said: “Their clothing was a bit inadequate and I think they had overestimated what they were going to do.
“I think they had taken on something rather more than they were capable of, didn’t allow enough time and got lost in the process as their navigation wasn’t the best.”
