At about 6:00 pm on Saturday 5th October. Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team (ASART) was alerted to a party lost in cloud on Cadair Idris.
The party, a group of six friends from Derby who were holidaying in the area, had scaled the mountain on the Minffordd path without incident and reached the summit in cloud. It was at this point that things took a turn for the worse; when the party left the summit hut to begin their descent they found that despite having map and compass they could not locate their path on the rock strewn and cloud-bound summit. They made several attempts to descend but each time ended up on a path heading in the wrong direction. On each occasion, the team leader made the difficult but appropriate decision to head back to their last known position, the summit hut. The repeated ascent of the summit cone took its toll on the condition of the group, and with nightfall looming they decided to request assistance.
Volunteers from ASART scaled the mountain, and with high-power torches were able to escort the party down to safety. Progress was slow in the dark, and a couple of the party had aggravated old injuries in the knees and ankles during the course of the day which meant that they required some assistance. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 10:40pm.
The party, a group of six friends from Derby who were holidaying in the area, had scaled the mountain on the Minffordd path without incident and reached the summit in cloud. It was at this point that things took a turn for the worse; when the party left the summit hut to begin their descent they found that despite having map and compass they could not locate their path on the rock strewn and cloud-bound summit. They made several attempts to descend but each time ended up on a path heading in the wrong direction. On each occasion, the team leader made the difficult but appropriate decision to head back to their last known position, the summit hut. The repeated ascent of the summit cone took its toll on the condition of the group, and with nightfall looming they decided to request assistance.
Volunteers from ASART scaled the mountain, and with high-power torches were able to escort the party down to safety. Progress was slow in the dark, and a couple of the party had aggravated old injuries in the knees and ankles during the course of the day which meant that they required some assistance. Everyone was safely off the mountain by 10:40pm.