At around 7:30 p.m. call handlers from South Snowdonia Search & Rescue Team were made aware of a group of three walkers lost in poor weather in the Team's area. The description the lost walkers provided was sufficiently vague as to not identify which hill they were actually on, and the team spent considerable effort and time trying to pinpoint their location.

When contact was finally made with the group, a woman and two men, it transpired that they were in the summit hut on Cader Idris and the rescue was handed on to Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team. A party of 4 Team volunteers made their way up the mountain with warm dry clothing for the lightly equipped group and the party was led back down to safety.
​Everyone was down off the hill by 00.21 a.m.

At about 2:30 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a walker having seizures near the summit of Cader Idris. The 59 year old man, part of a group of 7 climbing the mountain, was taken ill a few hundred metres short of the summit of Pen y Gader. 

Given the seriousness of his condition, assistance was requested from the Coastguard helicopter R936, but it it quickly became clear that the cloud-base was too low for the helicopter to reach the casualty site. The only option was for mountain rescue volunteers to make there way on foot to the casualty, and to carry him down to a position where the helicopter could then evacuate him. 

R936 landed in Dolgellau and picked up a team of rescuers to fly them as close as possible tot he casualty site. This was the first of 3 such uplifts to place rescuers and equipment on the mountain. 

Having reached the ill man, rescuers made further assessments which confirmed the seriousness of the situation. As the man's companions, cold and wet, were escorted down from the mountain by Team volunteers, other were preparing the casualty for a stretcher carry down to a suitable landing site.

As the transport process was about to begin, it became clear that there were occasional breaks in the cloud cover. This information was passed to R936 who were standing-by at Minffordd, and the crew decided to get airbourne to see what opportunities might be available. The helicopter inched its way up through the mist and was able to reach the casualty site and land. The man was quickly loaded aboard before the gaps in the cloud closed again and R936 made a quick exit, getting down safely below the cloud-base before taking the casualty to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was safely down off the hill by 9:00 p.m. 

Graham O'Hanlon was present at the casualty site. "We were facing a long, slow and difficult stretcher-carry with a seriously ill casualty, so were very happy to see R936 emerge from the mist. We are extremely grateful to the crew of Coastguard R936 who gave us fantastic support throughout this operation and pulled off what looked like quite a remarkable piece of flying to reach our position."

Twenty three volunteers from the Team were involved in the 6.5 hour operation.

Shortly after 10 p.m., Team call-handlers were made aware of lights flashing on the summit of Cader Idris.

From previous experience, people enjoying the mountain by torchlight are not uncommon, and the motions of a head torch as walkers move around can appear as a purposeful flashing from a distance. The summit area also has a good phone signal, and no distress calls had been received. A final clue was that a local outdoor education centre had a group at the summit shelter. 

​It was concluded that the report was a false alarm with good intent and the Team was stood down.

​At around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday 14th May, call-handlers from the Team were made aware of an injured teenager on Cader idris.

The 15 year-old male walker was part of a local outdoor education group hiking on the mountain. Having reached the summit, the party were starting their descent from Mynydd Moel when the walker stumbled and sustained an injury to his right ankle.

With the prospect of a long and problematic stretcher carry over difficult terrain, a request was made by the Team for assistance from the Coastguard helicopter, R936. The aircraft was already in the air on a training exercise, and was quickly on scene as Team volunteers gathered at the foot of the mountain to assist. The casualty and a teacher from the group were airlifted and flown to hospital for further assessment and treatment.

A party of team members made their way up the mountain to meet up with the remaining group members and help them to get safely down off the mountain. Everyone was down at the carpark by 7:40 p.m.

At around 7:20 p.m. Team call-handlers were made aware of a lost walker.
The informant had stated that he was working at the "tearooms at the waterfall", and reported that a caller had made contact saying that he was lost in the mountains. Team activity was underway to to try and flesh-out this very limited information, and a full-team standby had been issued, when it was reported that the man had been brought to safety by a local farmer. It is thought that the location was in the vicinity of Pistyll Rhaeadr.

Shortly after 3:00 p.m. call-handlers from the Team received a request for assistance from Ambulance Control regarding a person believed to have fallen from a coastal cliff at Tonfanau.
Ambulance Control had already contacted the Coastguard and had requested support from the air-ambulance. The Phonefind protocol was used by Team operatives to establish an accurate location for the casualty and this was passed to the Coastguard team attending the incident. Aberdyfi Team was put on standby and both the Ambulance control and Coastguard were made aware that we would call out if required. In the event, Helimed was able to land on the beach and the casualty was transported by air to further care.  

​Just before 4:30 p.m. Team call-handlers were made aware of a female walker lost in the Cregennen lakes area above Arthog.

From around 1:00 p.m. the 63 year old woman from Caernarfon had been walking around the lakes whilst her husband waited at the car-park, but at 2:20 p.m. she phoned him to report that she was fed-up and lost. After this point, all attempts to contact her by phone went straight to answerphone.

As daylight started to fade, and with concerns regarding pre-existing health issues, the husband requested help from Mountain Rescue.

As Team volunteers met up with the husband at Cregennen, call-handlers finally got through on the missing woman's phone; after a long and sometimes challenging journey with neither food or water, she had made her way to Dolgellau. Somewhat shaken and anxious, the woman was otherwise safe and well, and happy to be reunited with her husband.

Everyone was safely off the hill by 5:15 p.m.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were made aware of reports of a crag-fast man on Cader Idris.
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The informant reported seeing a man in a red jacket on a ledge above Llyn y Gader, and had thought that the person was shouting for help. The call-handlers were unable to contact the informant for further details and so called-out the Team to make further investigations at the scene.

Two Team volunteers were already out on the mountain and were able to quickly make contact with the informant. Knowing the mountain well, the rescuers realised that the area indicated was part of a popular climbing route, Cyfrwy Arete. Making their way over to the top of the crag, they were able to make contact with two men, one in a red jacket, who were happily enjoying and very pleasant day's climbing. The men reported having neither heard or seen anyone in distress, and it was concluded that infact these were the people who had been spotted, and that the shouting was part of their communication up and down the pitch.

The call-out was concluded to be a false alarm made with good intention.

At around 3:30 p.m.,  call handlers were made aware of two walkers lost in fog on Cader Idris.

The man and woman, from the Welshpool area, had climbed the mountain via the Minffordd Path and having reached the top, took a break in the summit hut. On re emerging from the hut the pair became disorientated in the fog and called for assistance.

Using the PhoneFind protocol to quiz their mobile phone, call-handlers were quickly able to identify that the couple had started to descend the wrong side of the mountain. Verbal instructions were given to steer the pair down the Foxes Path, and a small party of Team volunteers headed up the hill to intercept them.

Everyone was safely off the hill by 4:40 p.m.

​In a prompt start to the year, at 7:30 p.m. on New Year's Day, call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a missing walker whose car had been located at the bottom of Cader Idris.

The man, in his 30's and from Wrexham, had told family that he was walking at Barmouth but at night-fall he had texted to say he was lost. Having checked likely spots in Barmouth for his car, North Wales Police Officers moved their search to Cader Idris and eventually found the man's vehicle in the car-park at Minffordd. The ticket on his car indicated that he had been out on the mountain all day.

With the prospect of a large area search, the Team was immediately called-out. Given the nature of the situation, Search and Rescue Dogs Wales were also requested to supply a trailing dog to help locate the man. 

As Team volunteers were making their way to the mountain, the man fortunately was found by NWP Officers, safe and well and walking back to the car-park.