At around 10:15 p.m. the Team was contacted by NWP regarding an informant reporting 2nd-hand information about overdue climbers on Cader Idris.
Being unable to contact anyone directly involved in the incident, Team volunteers made their way to the Minffordd car-park to make further investigations.
The wife of one of the climbers was present, and reported she had last seen her husband and climbing partner at 3:00 p.m. at Llyn Cau. Their intention was, she said, to climb in the south-west corner of the Llyn in an area identified as being around Pen Coed Pillar. Her husband was described as an experienced climber, while his partner was less so, so she anticipated they would not be on anything too difficult. She reported them as being lightly equipped beyond their climbing kit.
With the possibility of crag-fast and benighted climbers, the assistance of Coastguard helicopter R936 was requested. The aircraft was granted, but was at that time refuelling in Liverpool. In the meantime, the plan was to send small teams to check above and below the area of the climb in order to locate the pair. As Team volunteers assembled, the first party was deployed up the hill, and fortunately encountered the missing climbers mid-way up the Minffordd steps.
The pair had underestimated or been misled by online resources about the difficulty of climb they were attempting, and it had taken much longer than anticipated. They were not well prepared for dealing with the extended time on the crag, and the situation was compounded by a flat mobile battery.
Everyone was safely off the mountain by 12:19 a.m.
Being unable to contact anyone directly involved in the incident, Team volunteers made their way to the Minffordd car-park to make further investigations.
The wife of one of the climbers was present, and reported she had last seen her husband and climbing partner at 3:00 p.m. at Llyn Cau. Their intention was, she said, to climb in the south-west corner of the Llyn in an area identified as being around Pen Coed Pillar. Her husband was described as an experienced climber, while his partner was less so, so she anticipated they would not be on anything too difficult. She reported them as being lightly equipped beyond their climbing kit.
With the possibility of crag-fast and benighted climbers, the assistance of Coastguard helicopter R936 was requested. The aircraft was granted, but was at that time refuelling in Liverpool. In the meantime, the plan was to send small teams to check above and below the area of the climb in order to locate the pair. As Team volunteers assembled, the first party was deployed up the hill, and fortunately encountered the missing climbers mid-way up the Minffordd steps.
The pair had underestimated or been misled by online resources about the difficulty of climb they were attempting, and it had taken much longer than anticipated. They were not well prepared for dealing with the extended time on the crag, and the situation was compounded by a flat mobile battery.
Everyone was safely off the mountain by 12:19 a.m.