The team received reports of a dog missing for about 1 hour at around 2:00 p.m. on Fri  31st April. The owners and members of the public were searching the area and it was felt that, without a clear target or evidence that the people helping in the search were at risk, that there was nothing the Team could offer at that point.

The search by the owners and well-wishers continued until darkness, and there were plans for it to resume the next morning. Concerns were raised by team members involved in the public search, that searchers were repeatedly drifting into areas of hazardous quarry workings close to the place where Charlie was last seen. As such, it was decided to deploy a small technical rope work team on the morning of Sat 1st May to search the workings in the hope that a negative result would then dissuade members of the public from trying in the same area.

A group of six of our Rope Technicians spent four hours examining the workings, gaining such access as was required to cover any blind spots hidden from the lip of the quarry. No evidence of Charlie was found.

Shortly after 7:00 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were requested to assist a Welsh Ambulance Service crew evacuate a casualty from Cader Idris.

The woman had set out on the mountain alone, but had joined other walkers along the way. On her descent from Mynydd Moel she slipped and badly twisted her ankle; an injury leaving her unable to walk. Some of the group of walkers stayed with the casualty whist others made their way off the mountain to raise the alarm.

A Welsh Ambulance Service crew had made their way up the Minffordd steps to reach the injured woman and the injury was splinted and pain relief was being administered as Team volunteers arrived on scene. Given the difficulties of moving a stretcher down the steps, along with the rapidly failing daylight, a request was made for the assistance of the Coastguard helicopter R936. The aircraft request was granted, but shortly afterwards it was tasked to a higher priority incident, and so Team volunteers began to prepare for the stretcher carry off the mountain. The situation changed once again, and the aircraft was re-tasked to this rescue and arrived on scene shortly afterwards. The casualty was winched aboard and flown to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was safely off the hill by 10:00 p.m.

At noon, call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a walker lost and snow-bound on Cader Idris.

The 41 year old man, an overseas visitor stranded locally with relatives by the current lock-down, got lost on his way down from the summit and found himself struggling in deep snow well away from his stated route. Very shortly after having  received the call-out, the man was, by chance, encountered by a team-member already out exercising on the mountain.

Cold, but otherwise uninjured, the man was escorted down off the mountain, where he was collected by relatives.

​At around 2:30 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a fragmented call received by Dyfed Powys Police, suggesting that walkers were in trouble on Cader Idris. Further broken conversations with the informant indicated that the two male walkers had become separated at some point on the mountain, and that the other walker had a leg injury. The informant's flat phone batteries curtailed any further inquiries.

With little to work with, and with the information available seeming confused and contradictory, the Team was called out to start a sweep of likely places. Fortunately, following a search of the key car-parks, only one car was present, meaning that it least a likely starting point was established.

Shortly after deploying, Team volunteers encountered the first male near the bottom of the Minffordd path, a little time later the second man, reported by the informant to be already in the carpark,  was located higher up the same path. Both were safe and well.

Everyone was safely off the mountain by 5:00 p.m.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. Team call-handlers received a report of lights spotted on Cader Idris.

Having spoken to the informant, there was no evidence to suggest that the lights were anything outside of normal recreational or farming activity, and with reasonable phone coverage in the area in question, it was concluded to be a false alarm with good intent. No further action was taken.

Shortly after 1:00 p.m. , call handlers from the Team were made aware of walker with a head injury on Cader Idris.

The woman, in her 40's and from Anglesey, had slipped and hit her head whilst crossing the summit plateau between the Pen y Gader and Mynydd Moel peaks. She was bleeding profusely, and both the casualty and her partner were anxious, cold and wet.

Team volunteers were dispatched up the mountain with equipment to perform a rescue, but given that it would take  more than an hour to reach the position of the injured woman, a parallel request was placed for air support from the Coastguard Helicopter Rescue936. The aircraft took off to support the rescue, but was unfortunately forced to turn back by poor weather that had shrouded the mountains in cloud.

Having reached the injured woman on foot, Team casualty-carers determined that she was unable to walk off the mountain. She was placed in a casualty bag on a stretcher to try and keep her warm, as the Team prepared for the prolonged and very difficult stretcher-carry down to Minffordd. As the stretcher party started to descend the main slope of Mynydd Moel, there was a hint of slightly improving weather conditions, and once again helicopter assistance was requested. This time the aircraft was able to reach the mountain, but the cloudbase meant that it could not quite reach the stretcher party. The crew landed the aircraft nearby, giving rescuers the chance to move a little further down the mountain, before they took off and winched the casualty aboard. The injured woman was flown to Ysbwyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. 

A total of 32 Team volunteers were involved in the 7 hour rescue operation. Everyone was safely off the hill by 8:00 p.m. 

Around midday on Sat 14th November, Betsy, a small pointer cross, slipped her harness and ran from her owners on the summit plateau of Cader Idris, midway between Pen y Gader and Mynydd Moel peaks. The owners searched extensively for Betsy but could find no trace, and reluctantly had to leave the mountain without her. A significant number of friends, family and well-wishers headed back up the mountain on Sunday, in some fairly challenging weather conditions, to continue the search, but to no avail. Late on Monday afternoon, a searcher reported hearing what he thought was a dog wimpering in an area of steep craggy ground to the north east of Llyn Cau. This was an area he thought he might have heard a dog barking on Sunday, and had returned the following day to investigate. With a specific target to explore, the owners requested mountain rescue assistance. 

The finding of Betsy #1 Monday 16th Nov
A call-handler from the Team spoke directly to the informant and from his description, an area of interest was highlighted in the crags south of the summit ridge. With night rapidly falling, and rain falling even faster, a party of 3 Team volunteers headed up the Minffordd path to see if they could confirm the reported noise, but as suspected the weather was too bad to see/hear anything. As rescuers arrived in Cwm Cau they spotted the owners torches high on the crag in the dark, trying to investigate this new information. Waiting until the anxious searchers returned down, there was a discussion about Betsy, the area where she was lost and the places searched over the last few days. They were desperate to find the dog, and it was apparent that they had been drifting into some hazardous ground in their quest to locate her. It was their stated intention to resume the search at first light the following day, and Team co-ordinators felt that a mountain rescue presence on the hill might provide alternative options to them putting themselves at risk should the dog be spotted.

The finding of Betsy #2 Tuesday 17th Nov
A party of 12 Team volunteers had made themselves available to take part in the search for Betsy at 08:30. One party, consisting of several of the Team's technical-rope rescue technicians set out to approach the area of interest from above, while a second party headed into Cwm Cau to scan the crags with binoculars, and then to approach the area from underneath. In the event, the very poor weather meant that visibility was too poor to view the crags from the other side of the valley, so the second hill party made their way to the foot of the crag. As they approached the valley floor a dog was heard howling on the wind, and attempt were made to quantify current position and compass bearing to the origin of the noise. As calculations were underway to get an approximate position for the source of the noise, news came through that one of the owners had located the dog on a rocky buttress in the identified area, but was unable to reach her. Team volunteers were able to move quickly into position and rigged a simple rope system to access the dog, who was cold and hungry but otherwise in surprisingly good condition given her 3 nights out in some appalling weather. While this was happening  others rigged hand-lines down the steep rocky slope to provide a quick and safe exit route. Betsy was quickly reunited with her owners, and everyone made their way safely back down to the carpark. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 13:00

​Shortly after midday, the Team was requested to assist a Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) crew access an injured man at Aberllefenni, near Corris.

In the very wet conditions, the 34 year old male had slipped in the mouth of old quarry workings at the top of a very steep incline. Having dislocated his shoulder in the fall he was in a great deal of pain and unable to move himself. A WAST crew attended the incident but identified that they were unable to transport him from the precarious position and requested the Team's assistance.

Having been given pain relief, the man was loaded onto a stretcher and lowered down the quarry incline. As the ground became less steep, the Team was able to carry the stretcher down to the waiting ambulance. The man was taken to Bronglais Hospital for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was off the hill by 3:15 p.m.

At around 11:20 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a party of walkers stuck on Cader Idris.

The group, consisting of a man and five women, were players and coaches from a rugby club in the south-east of England. Attempting the Welsh 3-peaks challenge, the party had left Kent on Friday evening, and had commenced the climb of Snowdon at 5 a.m. and Cader Idris at 2:30 p.m. 

Having reached the summit of Cader Idris, a combination of poor weather, encroaching darkness and navigational errors took the group away from the intended route and on to the steep crags above Cwm Cau. While some of the group tried to find a way down, others called for mountain rescue assistance.

Using smart-phone technology, call-handlers were able to pinpoint their location amongst the crags and the group was directed to retrace their steps up the steep ground to the plateau above, then move to intercept a fence line which would mark the safer way down from Mynydd Moel. A small party of Team volunteers was dispatched up the hill to provide extra lighting and assistance as the group made their way off the mountain. Tired after around 20 hours on the go, the walkers were otherwise unharmed, and everyone was safely off the hill by 3:30 a.m.

Shortly after 3:00 p.m. call handlers from the Team were made aware of a walker stuck on a scree above Llyn Cau on Cader Idris.

With no further details or means of contacting the casualty, a hasty-party of Team volunteers was tasked to head up the mountain to see if they could establish contact with the walker.

​As rescuers were heading to the scene, news came through that the man had been assisted by passing walkers and the Team was stood down.