Criticism after 'car park rescue' of Cairngorm walker

[scooterscot]

FFS. A shandy drinking morris dancing Brighton man rescued 400m from carpark. Seriously?! They better send him an invoice.

I never recall calling search & rescue when walking back from town to the village when I was a nipper. 5-miles without street lights or a full moon.

BBC News - Criticism after 'car park rescue' of Cairngorm walker

Criticism after 'car park rescue'

12 December 2014 Last updated at 21:50 GMT
CairngormThe walker had taken to the hills in winter without a head torch
A mountain rescue team leader has criticised the actions of a hillwalker who called to be rescued while 400m from a car park.

The man got into difficulty while descending the Munro, Cairngorm, in blizzard conditions and 100mph winds.

The 38 year old from Brighton was well equipped but chose to find his way down by walking in a burn.

He reached the buildings of the CairnGorm Mountain ski centre where he called 999.

He was taken off the hill by Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team.

The incident came on the same day as the Scottish government released warnings urging walkers and climbers to take care in the hills this winter.

Mountain rescue teams rarely criticise the people they rescue.

But Cairngorm MRT leader Willie Anderson said the man had set out in bad weather and without a head torch.

He said that the man had otherwise been well equipped and able enough to have got himself to safety once he got to the car park.

Mr Anderson said: "His decision to phone 999 was an abuse of an emergency service.

"He was well equipped but missing a key piece of equipment at a time close to the shortest day - a head torch."

The alarm was raised as darkness fell and the call out was concluded at about 20:00.

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[NotAllThere]

In Switzerland, they quickly and competently rescue you. Once you're safe, they'll bring out the forms and if you're not insured, you're going to wish you were. That's why I make sure that our whole family sponsor Rega - the Swiss rescue service. By sponsoring them we're covered for rescue and up to medical repatriation from anywhere in the world.

My daughter had to be stretchered off the mountainside after a skiing accident. We got a bill from the resort a month or so later. And a complementary day ticket, which was kind of nice.

[scooterscot]

Similar thing happened to myself on the piste last year. Went too slow over a hump and stretched the back of my leg. The world's slowest accident. But bugger me could I stand up again. A snow bike came down in minutes and carried me off back to the life. Next thing I knew it was my insurance card card details etc.

[BrilloPad]

They should let a few of them die.

Anyway, it takes the fun out of it if you can be rescued at any point.

[barrydidit]

I dropped a fiver in the bucket of the local mountain rescue guys when I was at Sainsburys the other day. It's like insurance, you never know when you're gonna need your carcass hauling off a hill somewhere.

As regards that article, if he'd made it to the ski hut and was 400m from a car park (could have been a 400m drop though ) and had a phone, couldn't they have talked him down?

Langdale MRT can usually be relied upon to make criticism of rescued persons where they haven't prepared properly or are being unresonable. An example. They publish an incident report for each time they're called out which can make interesting reading.

[minestrone]

Thing is that it is not inexperienced shandy drinking morris dancing folk that kill themselves in the hills, a royal marine died running in Glen Cova a few weeks back, an activates instructor nearly died as well out running in the cairngorms not long after

BBC News - Body found in search for missing Royal Marine
BBC News - Runner tells of relief at surviving sub-zero Cairngorms

These people should have known better but made really stupid errors.

[scooterscot]

Thing is that it is not inexperienced shandy drinking morris dancing folk that kill themselves in the hills, a royal marine died running in Glen Cova a few weeks back, an activates instructor nearly died as well out running in the cairngorms not long after

BBC News - Body found in search for missing Royal Marine
BBC News - Runner tells of relief at surviving sub-zero Cairngorms

These people should have known better but made really stupid errors.

Orienteering skills are a tad shocking these days. <old man mode> back in my day it was a map and a compass and plan to be back before 17:00, or you're in do da. Folks spend all day climbing to the top expecting to get back down in 30 minutes.

And another thing! The number of times I see folks in the hills walking and looking at the views at the same time and once never at their feet. Doomed I tell ya.

[BrilloPad]

I dropped a fiver in the bucket of the local mountain rescue guys when I was at Sainsburys the other day. It's like insurance, you never know when you're gonna need your carcass hauling off a hill somewhere.

As regards that article, if he'd made it to the ski hut and was 400m from a car park (could have been a 400m drop though ) and had a phone, couldn't they have talked him down?

Langdale MRT can usually be relied upon to make criticism of rescued persons where they haven't prepared properly or are being unresonable. An example. They publish an incident report for each time they're called out which can make interesting reading.

Every time I come down from Snowden I put in a tenner if they are there. I can't see us getting into trouble as we take the easy route - and only go up when the weather is good - but who can tell?

[tractor]

...

Orienteering skills are a tad shocking these days. <old man mode> back in my day it was a map and a compass and plan to be back before 17:00, or you're in do da. Folks spend all day climbing to the top expecting to get back down in 30 minutes.

And another thing! The number of times I see folks in the hills walking and looking at the views at the same time and once never at their feet. Doomed I tell ya.

Accidents rarely happen on the way up (aside from exposure and stuff but that is not an accident), almost always on the way down.

As a climber, when people were worried about falling, we used to say 'it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the bottom!'

He was obviously lost in the first place, he should have been on Cairngormless.

[tractor]

Every time I come down from Snowden I put in a tenner if they are there. I can't see us getting into trouble as we take the easy route - and only go up when the weather is good - but who can tell?

I remember on the walk in to the Glyders traverse one year at the bottom of the Glyder Slabs, I notice someone preparing to lead and struggling with his gear. He asked me if I could show him how to tie a figure of eight in his harness.