At around 4:20 p.m., call handlers from the Team were made aware of a woman with an ankle injury on Cader Idris.

Call handlers spoke to the partner of the 51 year old woman, who was with her on the hill, and obtained a fairly specific description of the path they were on and distances from a key feature. This differed slightly from the description provided to North Wales Police, but not greatly so.

As the first volunteers from the team were making their way up the hill to the casualty site, they encountered a walker coming down off the mountain who said he had recently passed the pair on a completely different part of the mountain. Whilst Team members followed up this new report, others continued searching the originally reported area to no avail.

Eventually, the injured woman and partner were located at the position described by the walker, high on the slopes on Mynydd Moel, on a different path, more than a kilometer away and more than 350m higher than the position given.

Given the elevated position and encroaching nightfall, the coastguard helicopter, Rescue936 was requested, and the lady was evacuated by air to Ysbwty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was safely off the hill by 8:30 p.m.

Team volunteer Graham O'Hanlon attended the rescue. "Without the chance encounter with the walker, and having had such a specific first-hand description of location, we would have expended a great deal of effort combing the first area. The operation would have eventually expanded, but it would have been some time before we started searching areas that far removed from the described point." 

​At around 7:30 p.m. the Team was made aware of two walkers lost on Cader Idris

The husband and wife, both in their 20's and from Suffolk, had climbed the mountain via the Minffordd path. Having reached the summit and started their descent, they had become lost in the low cloud and drizzle, and their predicament was further compounded as darkness fell. Neither had clothing or equipment suitable for the mountain environment or the forecast weather conditions.

As rescue volunteers made their way up both sides of the mountain, Team call-handlers were able to make use of the SARLOC smartphone protocol to get a location for the pair, and this information was confirmed when the pair came across one of the national park grid-reference discs placed on fences and stiles around the mountain. With this information to hand, rescuers were directed to the cold, wet but otherwise uninjured pair, and having been dressed in warm dry clothing, they were escorted down off the mountain. Everyone was safely back at vehicles by 11:00 p.m.

​Just before 9:00 p.m. the Team was requested to assist North East Wales Search & Rescue Team in the rescue of two injured teenagers to the east of Bala.

The two women were part of a group of 6 taking part in a Duke of Edinburgh expedition, and all were sheltered in a tent. The group had been visited by their DoE supervisor earlier in the evening who identified the need for a rescue and raised the alarm.

Parties of rescue volunteers were deployed onto the hill, but it was soon apparent that the casualties were not at the location given in the initial request for help. In poor visibility and with very difficult ground conditions an area search was undertaken, and at 12:40 a.m. the party was eventually located almost a kilometer away.

The two casualties were assessed by casualty carers at the scene. One woman, with an injured ankle, was carried from the scene by stretcher whilst the other, with a twisted knee was able to walk off with some assistance. The entire party was evacuated from their campsite and back to awaiting vehicles, making it back to be with their Leaders by 3:40 a.m.

​At around 6:00 a.m., Team call-handlers were contacted by North Wales Police with regard to missing person.

The man, a 30 year old French tourist, had been missing since Sunday when he failed to return to his hotel in Bala, and ongoing NWP investigations had led to the discovery of his car in the Minffordd car-park, a popular trail-head for Cader Idris.

With an extensive search area to cover, and with bad weather forecast for later in the day, the team requested and received assistance from the Coastguard helicopter, R936, from our neighbouring team South Snowdonia Search & Rescue and from Search and Rescue Dogs (SARDA Wales) Izzy, Izzy and Spin.
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With teams deployed on foot and in the air, "finds" of lost equipment on the mountain proved inconclusive or unrelated. Finally Search Dog Izzy, a trailing-dog trained to pick up the specific scent of a missing person, indicated that the had found scent, giving the first good evidence that the man was on the mountain, and an indication which path he had taken.

With this evidence, along with information gathered relating to mobile phone mast data, the search area was narrowed and,just before 1.00 p.m., Rescue936 reported that they had sighted a body on steep craggy ground above llyn Cau.

A party of Team volunteers was winched onto the crag, and discovered that the man had not survived his ordeal. In difficult conditions of terrain, and as other parties of volunteers waited nearby in case the deteriorating weather meant R936 was unable to operate, Team members loaded the man onto a stretcher. With the weather closing-in fast he  was then winched into R936 and lifted down off the mountain. The helicopter then returned  to lift the stretcher-party off the crag.

All were down off the mountain by 5:30 p.m.

At around 12:30 a.m. volunteers from the Team were made aware of a hiker believed to be missing on Cader Idris.

The 47 year old man had set off from his holiday base near Betws y Coed at around lunchtime on Wednesday with the intention of climbing the mountain, but when he failed to return and his phone was going straight to answerphone, his wife alerted the Police. In order to identify whether the man had actually got as far as Cader Idris, and if so, which route had he taken up the mountain, North Wales Police Officers searched the most likely sites, and his car was located at the Minffordd car park. 

Team call-handlers, along with North Wales Police operatives, tried to piece together as much information as possible about the man's activity, intentions, experience and equipment, but with heavy rain forecast and with very little to go on, it was decided to start by searching the three most likely routes up the mountain from Minffordd.

The first two parties of volunteers were dispatched to seach Cwm Cau, the South Ridge and summit and were just approaching the cwm when they encountered the man asleep in the middle of the path. Disorientated and a little cold, the man was escorted with a little assistance down off the mountain. Everyone was back at vehicles by around 3:00 a.m.

According to the man, he had been navigating using his mobile, and had reached the summit. On his descent the phone had stopped working, and although he managed to find the path he was benighted and unable to proceed.

On arrival back at the carpark the man was given warm drinks, and advised that, given his clear state of exhaustion, he should take some time to warm up in his car, and get some rest before attempting the 45 min drive back to his base. The man drove away before the last of the Team had left the scene.

Graham O'Hanlon attended the rescue. "In mountain rescue, and perhaps against expectation, there is often not a single catastrophic event, but instead a series of unfortunate incidents that the experienced mountaineer would take in their stride, but which catch out the unprepared. This was was a good example of such a cascade. Making use of electronic devices on the hill is now commonplace, but they can and do fail or run out of power. Without any kind of back-up in terms of map and compass, the loss of navigational aids will undoubtedly have contributed to the extended journey time experienced by the walker. This in turn led to him being benighted, and with no torch, and no phone to use as a torch, he was unable to proceed. Having left no clear plan of his destination or intended route, this may have delayed his partner from raising the alarm, and cost valuable time spent in searching for his car. The forecasted heavy rain arrived shortly after we got down off the mountain, and if he had been forced to endure a night in those conditions, the outcome would have been significantly worse."

"In this particular case, the lack of a simple emergency torch meant the man was unable to self-rescue, cost 14 volunteers a night's sleep, and could have ultimately cost the casualty his life. We strongly encourage all walkers who take to the hills to take responsibility for their own safety by equipping themselves appropriately, and by telling someone where they have gone and when they expect to be back."

Shortly after 6:00 p.m. the Team was made aware of a man lost at Islawr-dref, in the hills above Kings Youth Hostel near Dolgellau.

As Team volunteers gathered at the Youth Hostel, the man was found by a local farmer who had been tipped-off by a Team volunteer. The missing man was returned to his car at the bottom of the hill in a Team vehicle.

At just after midday, call-handlers from the Team were made aware of two people lost in bad weather on Cader Idris.

The pair, a 47 year old man and his 13 year old daughter from London, had become disorientated in very poor weather having reached what they believed to be the summit of Cader Idris. The description given to call-handlers did not fit with the local knowledge of features on the mountain, and it seems they had reached either the saddle or the summit of adjacent peak Cwfrwy instead. Having found themselves at the top significant cliffs, they rightly called for assistance. Using information from the man's phone, Team leaders were able to pinpoint the casualties' location. With this information it was possible to direct a hasty-party to the couple's position and to deploy other Team volunteers to back-up the efforts of this initial group. The lost walkers were located, and, after a quick assessment and some dry clothing, the journey downhill was undertaken. Everyone was safely down off the mountain by 4:00 p.m

Ms Hammond is supervisor for DoE Gold group. She was in Dolgellau and her group were camping at Llyn y Gader. Group contacted her to report lights on a bearing consistent with the summit plateau. The lights were reported as being rythmic 3 long 3 short, but she had not heard back from the group to report further sightings. She was reassured that it was worth contacting the police, and to recontact them should her group see other signs such as shouting or whistle blowing.

Given our understanding that a group was camping at the summit, and that the summit has a reasonable phone signal, we believed the DoE group had seen torch-light from the higher campsite, and that the call was a false alarm with good intention.

At around 2.00 p.m. the Team was called to assist a woman with an injured finger on Cadair Idris. 

The 54 year old woman from Surrey had slipped and sustained open fracture of her left forefinger. Passers-by controlled bleeding and bandaged the wound, and then helped the lady walk down the Pony path where they were met by a party of Team volunteers. The casualty appeared drowsy and unwell, and nn further assessment of the injury, the finger was found to have lost some or all circulation beyond the break; a situation that could lead to the permanent loss of finger tissue. With the potentially serious nature of the circumstances, it was decided to request an airlift by the Coastguard helicopter Rescue936.

​The casualty was flown to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment. Everyone was safely off the hill by 5:00 p.m. 

​At around 10:00 a.m. the Team was requested to assist Dyfed Powys Police and the Welsh Ambulance Service in the recovery of the body found on a hillside overlooking the town of Machynlleth. The casualty was stretchered off the high ground and handed over to a waiting undertaker.  Our best wishes and sympathies go out to the friends and family of the deceased.