Shortly before 9:30 p.m., and midway through a Team committee meeting, call-handlers from the Team were made aware of an unusual light spotted on Cader Idris.

Concerns were raised by a person living in the Minffordd area over the light, which had been seen continuously from around 5:00 p.m. until the cloudbase fell far enough to obscure the view at around 9:00 p.m.

Team volunteer Graham O'Hanlon attended the incident. "Lights on the mountain are not that unusual, particularly at this time of year. When walkers are appropriately equipped with navigational tools and torches, they can enjoy the hills safely long after dark. However this light was situated away from the principle routes up and down the mountain, and although the weather was largely calm and bright, it not an obvious choice for wild camping. Unusually  in this instance the bright light was completely stationary and situated high above a farm at the foot of the mountain."

"By the time we were alerted to the issue it had been wholly night for some hours, but the light had continued to shine around.  Team volunteers wisely started the investigations by establishing that all the shepherds and flocks were accounted for, and that nothing unusual was happening in the cowsheds, but all was calm."

"As the initial parties made their up the hill to investigate the source, the light, which up to this point had been wreathed in mist, cleared the cloud and  shone on high."

"Having the first opportunity to see the light for ourselves, it became clear what we were looking at, and we were so surprised we needed to check it twice. Viewing the scene by binoculars we could see that on the very top of the ridge, overlooking the Tal-y Llyn pass, a couple of trees had been spruced-up with solar fairy lights. There was no one obviously present under the trees. 

"We left the lights in place as they are not our property. Although they look nice, it is a little naughty to be leaving equipment like that on the mountain, and we will monitor the situation. We would hope that the lights are removed by 6th of Jan, if only to stop the goblins coming!"

"This incident turned out to be a well-intentioned false alarm, but we are always happy to go and investigate concerns, and were quite amused by this one"

16 volunteers attended the incident, and everyone was safely down off the hill shortly after midnight.

At around 4:15 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were made aware of two lost walkers on Cader Idris.

The couple had set out from Minffordd to scale the mountain, but navigational mistakes meant that they descended the mountain on the wrong side. Consequently, as darkness started to fall they were unsure of their location and called for help.

The pair were located using the PhoneFind protocol to quiz their phone for location data, and were located on open ground to the south of Dolgellau. A small party of Team volunteers was dispatched to meet the walkers and escort them safely off the hill. Everyone was back at vehicles by 6:40 p.m.

​Shortly after 4:00 p.m.  call handlers from the Team were made aware of a walker in difficulty on Cader Idris.

The lightly equipped 22 year old female from Aberystwyth was cold but otherwise uninjured and situated at the summit hut on the mountain. She had found herself unsure of the route down and had lost confidence that she could find her way off the mountain before darkness fell.

A party of 4 team volunteers departed from Ty Nant and made a rapid ascent of the mountain to locate the caller. She was given warm clothing and walked off the mountain, with everyone being safely back at the car park by 8:20 p.m.

In the midst of the missing person search, rescuers were made aware of an injured mountain biker at nearby Nant y Moch reservoir.

The 48 year old male had fallen badly, injuring his left wrist and elbow, and sustaining a suspected head injury.

A party made up from volunteers from both Aberdyfi and Brecon teams attended the incident. The injured man was treated at the scene and transported to Bronglais hospital for further assessment and treatment.

Team volunteers were again working with Dyfed-Powys Police and Brecon Mountain Rescue Team in an ongoing search for a missing 54 year old man from Tre'r Ddol.

​No evidence of the man was found and the police investigation remains open.

A large number of Team volunteers were involved in a full-day search for a missing person near Borth.

The 54 year old man had last been sighted near his home in Tre'r Ddol around a week earlier, and the Dyfed-Powys Police search operation to establish his whereabouts was assisted by Mountain Rescue volunteers from Aberdyfi And Brecon teams, along with volunteer crews from Borth and Aberystwyth Coast-Guards.

​No evidence of the man was found, and the search remains active.

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At around 2:15 p.m.  call handlers from the Team were made aware of a child with a suspected broken ankle near Bryncrug.

The girl, aged 12, was part of an outdoor education group enjoying the hill track joining Bryncrug, near Tywyn, to Happy Valley. Centre staff stabilised the injury and escorted the rest of the group to safety as Team volunteers made their way to assist with the evacuation of the child. Team volunteers were able to access the scene by 4x4, and having assessed and packaged the casualty, she was driven back down the track to a waiting centre vehicle for transport to hospital.

​Everyone was down off the hill by 5:00 p.m.

​Shortly after 18:30, the Team was requested to assist Brecon Mountain Rescue Team in the Rescue of an injured mountain biker near Nant y Moch Reservoir, north east of Aberystwyth. As volunteers from both Teams were making their way to the incident, the Coastguard helicopter was able to access the scene, and the casualty was evacuated to hospital by air.

Rescue 1: Injured Biker
Shortly before 10:30 a.m. on Saturday 28th September Call handlers from Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team received a request to assist an ambulance crew with the rescue of an injured motorcyclist near Happy Valley, Tywyn.

The man, in his late forties and from Northumbria, was part of a guided off-road motorbike group exploring a hill-track popular with green-lane groups when he came off his machine. Although the crash was at slow speed, the man landed badly and injured his shoulder.

A Team volunteer who lives locally was quickly on scene and made his way up the track on foot to meet the group, shortly followed by paramedics from a Welsh Ambulance Service crew. Other Team volunteers made their way to the scene with equipment as the man was being assessed, and after the provision for pain relief he was able to walk assisted down to a waiting Team vehicle and then to the ambulance for hospital transfer.

Rescue 2: Trapped Dog
At 1:30 p.m., as Team volunteers had just about stored all the equipment and were settling back into their Saturday, a second call was received, this time from the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS), requesting assistance in accessing a dog trapped in old lead mine-workings at Dylife, south of Machynlleth. The rescue of animals is not strictly within the scope of the Team's operation, and for some animals, the capability of the equipment we use. Each request is assessed on it's own merits, and volunteers are made fully aware of the individual situation. In this case, the need for a technical rope system to access the old mine shaft provided an excellent training opportunity, and the dangerous steps that the owners had already taken to access the dog themselves, and would continue to do so, meant that there was a significant risk to human life if we declined to help.

At around 3:15 p.m. and just as the first volunteers were arriving on scene at Dylife, call handlers received word of another call-out, this time a walker with a leg injury on Cader Idris. The dog-rescue party was pared down to the minimum required to operate the system with the help of the fire crew already on scene, whilst one team vehicle and other volunteers still en route were diverted to Minffordd for the third rescue.

At Dylife, the lowering and raising system was rigged without issue, and a Team volunteer was lowered over the crumbling silty lip of the shaft to reach the dog on a ledge a few metres down, and above a much bigger drop. The dog, very pleased to see the red jacket, cooperated beautifully, and was quickly loaded into a bag for transport upwards. Both rescuer and dog were a little dirtier for their troubles, and while the dog was passed back to its owners, the rescuer was hosed-down courtesy of the FRS crew. Everyone was back roughly where they should be within the hour, with the Team volunteers making their way to support call-out No.3 at Minffordd.

Rescue 3: Ankle Injury on Cader Idris
The third incident involved a wild swimmer from London. The woman was one of many outdoor swimming enthusiasts due to take part in the Hurly Burly event which centres on a swim from Barmouth to Penmaenpool on the Mawddach Estuary. Unfortunately the event had been cancelled a couple of days earlier because of the prevailing and forecast bad weather, and the fact that the rivers were running at unusually high levels. However, with the time set aside, child-care in place and accommodation paid for, the woman and her friend had decided to come anyway and to make the most of the time set aside for their Snowdonia visit. Being wild-swimmers, they had already taken a dip in Tal y llyn, and following a recommendation, also swam in Llyn Cau, midway up Cader Idris. Unfortunately, the guidebook focused much on the lake and not so much on the terrain setting, and they were underprepared for the mountain environment in poor weather. The swim in Llyn Cau went well, though was described as "very cold", but shortly after leaving the water the woman went over on her ankle, and could no longer load-bear on it. Cold from the swim, and underprepared for a long wait in poor weather, there was also the risk of hypothermia setting in. Unable to get a phone signal ot the incident site, the woman's friend was forced to move further down the mountain to raise the alarm.

A small party of Team volunteers was despatched to locate the woman, and to assess and stabilise her injuries. She was placed in a group-shelter and given additional clothing to rewarm, but it was evident that she would be unable to walk off the mountain. Whilst inquiries were made about the availability of the Coastguard helicopter, R936, contingency plans were put in place to deal with the difficult stretcher carry down the Minffordd steps. As a number of Aberdyfi volunteers were still in transit from the dog rescue, a request for support was placed with the neighbouring team, South Snowdonia Search & Rescue. This ability to draw on skilled personnel, trained to a similar level and using similar equipment, in order to back-fill any under-resourced incidents makes for a highly robust and effective service, and is one of the great strengths of Mountain Rescue in England and Wales.

Fortunately R936 was available and able to fly in under the cloudbase and land close to the casualty. After a short stretcher-carry, the woman was loaded aboard and flown to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was safely back at the carpark by 6:15 p.m.