​At around 5:30 p.m., Call-Handlers from the Team were made aware of an injured walker on Cader Idris.

The 30 year old woman, one of a party of four hill-walkers, had gone over on her ankle whilst descending the Foxes path below Llyn y Gadair. With the woman unable to load-bear on the injured limb, the party called for assistance.

An advance party of four Team volunteers was dispatched with pain relief and first aid equipment. Given the nature of the terrain and location, a request was made for helicopter assistance from Coastguard R936. Further Team members were held back at Ty Nant as the helicopter made initial approaches to the casualty site. Although the casualty was located on a steep section of the path, the helicopter was able to land a short distance away. The injured woman was treated at the scene, then assisted by Team members to the aircraft and flown down to Ty Nant. The remaining party were escorted off the hill by Team volunteers, and the casualty was driven by friends to Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, for further assessment and treatment.

Everyone was safely off the hill just after 8:00 p.m.

Shortly before 5:00 p.m. call handlers from the Team were made aware of a walker having seizures on Cader Idris

The party of three had been the the summit of the mountain and had descended via the stone chute to Llyn Cau. During the descent one of the party, a 45 years old male, had started to feel unwell and latterly suffered a seizure by the outfall of Llyn Cau. 

Given the location and potential seriousness of casualties condition, a request was made for aircraft support. Meanwhile, a hill-party of Team volunteers was deployed from Minffordd, while a second party waited in the car park ready to form a stretcher party if required.  Coastguard helicopter Rescue 936  arrived on scene just as the hill-party reached the casualty.  The helicopter paramedic made an assessment of the casualty, and the decision was made to airlift the casualty to Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth. Rescuers escorted the remaining two members of the group back to Minffordd.

Everyone was safely off the hill by 7:40 p.m.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m.  call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a crag-fast sheepdog near Cader Idris.

Working dog Tess became stuck on the walls of Tal y Llyn pass the previous day. The farmer had scrambled down the steep and slippery ground to within sight of the dog, but was prevented from reaching Tess by a vertical step in the crag wall. The dog remained stuck overnight, and after further unsuccessful attempts to reach her the following morning, the farmer requested assistance.

In deteriorating weather conditions, Team volunteers built a rope-rescue system on the crag top in order to lower a rescuer safely down the steep ground. Once over the vertical step the plan was to secure the dog and haul both rescuer and dog back up to safety. 

Tess, it seemed, had other ideas. Cautious by nature, and not at all impressed by a night on the mountain followed by an influx of strangers, she took the offered food treats at distance, then ran off across the steep ground out of sight. Limited by the reach of the rope system, the rescuer was unable to follow, and with the target lost, he was hauled back to the top for a rethink.

Spotters were deployed along the crag top and on the opposite face of the pass and Tess was quickly located, back close to her original position. The process was repeated, this time with the lowering of two rescuers to increase the chance of getting hold of her.  As the pair were just approaching the bottom of the vertical step, Tess was spotted on the steep ground above them. She clearly had had enough of this game and had found a way to climb  around the step. She was quickly grabbed by the farmer, and the rescuers, farmer and dog were assisted back to flatter ground.

Everyone was safely of the hill by 3:30 p.m.

Shortly after 9:00 p.m., call-handlers from the Team were made aware of a party of four lost on Cader Idris.

The party, a group of friends from the London area, had started out from Minffordd at around 4:30 p.m. to climb the mountain. Their hope was for a quick evening walk following the paths on the hillside, and using this strategy they successfully reached the summit via the Minffordd path.

The party then took a recommendation from a passing walker to walk the circuit via Mynydd Moel back to the car-park.  However, being poorly equipped and with no means of navigation they missed the indistinct path on the summit plateau and quickly became lost. Having wandered unsuccessfully for a couple of hours, they called for help. By this point the group members were cold, hungry, anxious, and one had twisted his ankle, making progress slow, but still possible.

Using the PhoneFind protocol the lost walkers were located via their smartphones and the group was directed towards a fence line on Mynydd Moel which they could follow to descend. A hill party of three Team volunteers headed up the hill with torches and clothing to intercept the party and escort them safely off the hill. A second group of volunteers waited at the foot of the hill as a back-up.

Everyone was safely off the hill by 12:30 a.m.

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.