Aberdyfi Search And Rescue Team
  • Home
  • Callouts
  • Area Covered
  • Donations
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Login
  • The Team
  • Water

Walkers Lost on Cader Idris

30/11/2020

 
​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.


Lights on Cader Idris

26/11/2020

 
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.

Injured Woman on Cader Idris

21/11/2020

 
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. 
Picture

The finding of Betsy

17/11/2020

 
Around midday on Sat 14th November, Betsy, a small pointer cross, slipped her harness and ran from her owners on the summit plateau of Cader Idris, midway between Pen y Gader and Mynydd Moel peaks. The owners searched extensively for Betsy but could find no trace, and reluctantly had to leave the mountain without her. A significant number of friends, family and well-wishers headed back up the mountain on Sunday, in some fairly challenging weather conditions, to continue the search, but to no avail. Late on Monday afternoon, a searcher reported hearing what he thought was a dog wimpering in an area of steep craggy ground to the north east of Llyn Cau. This was an area he thought he might have heard a dog barking on Sunday, and had returned the following day to investigate. With a specific target to explore, the owners requested mountain rescue assistance. 

The finding of Betsy #1 Monday 16th Nov
A call-handler from the Team spoke directly to the informant and from his description, an area of interest was highlighted in the crags south of the summit ridge. With night rapidly falling, and rain falling even faster, a party of 3 Team volunteers headed up the Minffordd path to see if they could confirm the reported noise, but as suspected the weather was too bad to see/hear anything. As rescuers arrived in Cwm Cau they spotted the owners torches high on the crag in the dark, trying to investigate this new information. Waiting until the anxious searchers returned down, there was a discussion about Betsy, the area where she was lost and the places searched over the last few days. They were desperate to find the dog, and it was apparent that they had been drifting into some hazardous ground in their quest to locate her. It was their stated intention to resume the search at first light the following day, and Team co-ordinators felt that a mountain rescue presence on the hill might provide alternative options to them putting themselves at risk should the dog be spotted.

The finding of Betsy #2 Tuesday 17th Nov
A party of 12 Team volunteers had made themselves available to take part in the search for Betsy at 08:30. One party, consisting of several of the Team's technical-rope rescue technicians set out to approach the area of interest from above, while a second party headed into Cwm Cau to scan the crags with binoculars, and then to approach the area from underneath. In the event, the very poor weather meant that visibility was too poor to view the crags from the other side of the valley, so the second hill party made their way to the foot of the crag. As they approached the valley floor a dog was heard howling on the wind, and attempt were made to quantify current position and compass bearing to the origin of the noise. As calculations were underway to get an approximate position for the source of the noise, news came through that one of the owners had located the dog on a rocky buttress in the identified area, but was unable to reach her. Team volunteers were able to move quickly into position and rigged a simple rope system to access the dog, who was cold and hungry but otherwise in surprisingly good condition given her 3 nights out in some appalling weather. While this was happening  others rigged hand-lines down the steep rocky slope to provide a quick and safe exit route. Betsy was quickly reunited with her owners, and everyone made their way safely back down to the carpark. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 13:00
Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011