Poor visibility on the summit of Mynydd Moel At around 2:30 p.m. call-handlers from the Team were alerted to two walkers lost in low cloud on Cader Idris.
The man and woman, both in their 50's and from the Malvern area, had set off up the mountain from Minffordd but had become disorientated in low cloud with visibility down to a few meters at times. Having spent a couple of hours casting around looking for a path, the pair called out Mountain Rescue, but finding themselves on a featureless hill-side with poor visibility, there was little for the rescuers to work with in terms of their location.
While attempts were made to locate the pair via their mobile phone, two hill-parties of Team volunteers started making a sweep of the Pencoed-Penygader-Mynydd Moel circuit, one clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. In a stroke of good fortune given the conditions, the pair were found by one of the few other people on the mountain, and who was able to identify their position to the rescue controller as on the saddle between Penygader and Mynydd Moel. The walker was able to take the pair to the Mynydd Moel fence-line where they were met by the anti-clockwise Mountain Rescue hill-party who were able to escort the pair off the mountain. Everyone was down from the mountain by 7:15 p.m.
Team member Graham O'Hanlon attended the rescue. "The mountains can be an exhilarating place in all kinds of weather conditions, but it is important that, before committing to a route, walkers take a realistic look at the weather forecast and make sure that their skill-set and equipment are more than suitable to the task."
The man and woman, both in their 50's and from the Malvern area, had set off up the mountain from Minffordd but had become disorientated in low cloud with visibility down to a few meters at times. Having spent a couple of hours casting around looking for a path, the pair called out Mountain Rescue, but finding themselves on a featureless hill-side with poor visibility, there was little for the rescuers to work with in terms of their location.
While attempts were made to locate the pair via their mobile phone, two hill-parties of Team volunteers started making a sweep of the Pencoed-Penygader-Mynydd Moel circuit, one clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. In a stroke of good fortune given the conditions, the pair were found by one of the few other people on the mountain, and who was able to identify their position to the rescue controller as on the saddle between Penygader and Mynydd Moel. The walker was able to take the pair to the Mynydd Moel fence-line where they were met by the anti-clockwise Mountain Rescue hill-party who were able to escort the pair off the mountain. Everyone was down from the mountain by 7:15 p.m.
Team member Graham O'Hanlon attended the rescue. "The mountains can be an exhilarating place in all kinds of weather conditions, but it is important that, before committing to a route, walkers take a realistic look at the weather forecast and make sure that their skill-set and equipment are more than suitable to the task."
