Having little information with which to work, and with the informant's phone going straight to voicemail, the team was deployed to search the Mynydd Moel area of the mountain. Shortly after Team volunteers set out, North Wales Police reported further contact with the pair, a man and woman from Kent, who said that the cloud had lifted and they believed they were back on the right track. A small group of volunteers continued up the mountain and met up with the walkers to check on welfare and ensure that they were indeed safely heading downwards. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 6:45 p.m.
At around 5:20 p.m. on Sun 30th july, the Team was made aware of two walkers lost in low cloud on Cader Idris near Dolgellau.
Having little information with which to work, and with the informant's phone going straight to voicemail, the team was deployed to search the Mynydd Moel area of the mountain. Shortly after Team volunteers set out, North Wales Police reported further contact with the pair, a man and woman from Kent, who said that the cloud had lifted and they believed they were back on the right track. A small group of volunteers continued up the mountain and met up with the walkers to check on welfare and ensure that they were indeed safely heading downwards. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 6:45 p.m. At around 11:30 p.m. the Team was requested to assist a couple of lost walkers near Cemmaes. The pair, a man and woman in their late teens, had set out walking from a local campsite and were unable to find their way back. The walkers were located using SARLOC, a protocol which interrogates smartphones for their position. A small party of volunteers was then deployed to find the walkers and assess them for injury. The pair were cold but otherwise unharmed and were brought safely back to the site by around 1:30 a.m. In the late afternoon, the Team was requested to assist in the rescue of a sheep stuck down a mine-shaft near Dylife in the hills south east of Machynlleth. The ewe, spotted by passing walkers, was on a ledge about 5m down an abandoned shaft in an area of old lead-mine workings near the Star Inn at Dylife. Although not a significant distance down, the nature of the terrain created potentially serious hazards to the rescuers. Rescuer Graham O'Hanlon was at the scene. "The ewe was sat on a small ledge under a slight overhang consisting of semi-rotten beams, rock slabs and mining spoil. The whole lot was potentially unstable and our technical rope rescue team had to work hard to check stability and remove hazards as they made their way down. With this in mind the set-up took plenty of preparation but the actual rescue was over in a matter of minutes." The ewe was recovered safely and Team volunteers were safely back at their vehicles by 9:30 p.m. At around 8:40 p.m. on Thursday 6th Jul, the Team was called to assist with the rescue of Mac the sheepdog from a quarry ledge near Pennal. Mac had failed to return from sheep gathering earlier in the day, and on returning to the work area, his owner was able to hear him on a ledge high on the quarry wall. In order to avoid unnecessary risk to Team volunteers, the rescue was deferred until first thing the following morning, when 10 members of the Team made their way up to the quarry. A rope system was created at the top of the workings allowing a rescuer to be lowered down to the ledge where Mac was patiently waiting. He was loaded into a purpose built bag, and the pair were lowered down to the quarry floor. Mac was unscathed by his adventure, and made his way directly to his grateful owner, pausing only for a quick detour back to his rescuer in the full knowledge that there were still biscuits in his pocket. Everyone was safely down off the hill by 11:00 a.m. |
|