Dundonnell Mountain Rescue team hail ‘exceptional’ chopper flying skills in tough Cape Wrath Trail mercy mission in Wester Ross
A WESTER Ross mercy mission in exceptionally challenging conditions was triggered in the small hours of Saturday morning.
Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team was at 3.30am made aware of a walker in trouble on a Wester Ross section of the Cape Wrath Trail.
With the well forecast Storm Amy wreaking havoc across the Highlands, closing a number of roads and resulting in debris spread across many others, conditions simply getting to the Dundonnell base rendezvous point proved challenging.
It was a full team callout for the search, carried out in conjunction with the Stornoway-based HM Coastguard Search and Rescue R948 helicopter and based on the casualty’s last known position.
Teams also deployed to search the bothies at Achneigie and Shenavall.
No trace was found in the initial search but a short time later, new information came in with a fresh area to search.
Rescue 948 attended again and this time were able to locate the casualty sheltering behind a large boulder. The Dundonnell team said later: “With some exceptional flying, they uplifted the casualty who was suffering from mild hypothermia. He was flown to Stornaway hospital to be checked out.”
The spokesman said: “Thanks to all who braved the weather and helped bring this incident to a happy conclusion.”
And referring to the very difficult conditions, he cautioned: “Always check the weather forecast and plan accordingly. Always have a back-up plan and never be afraid to cancel you plans for the day.
“There is always tomorrow.”
Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team SCIO is made up entirely of volunteers who will respond to those in need in the mountains and elsewhere. The team is on call 24-hours a day, 365 days a year and relies heavily on donations from members of the public and its supporters to carry out its life-saving work.
If you would like to make a donation please visit the website at https://www.dmrt.org.uk/how-to-donate-to-dmrt.html