WATCH: Climber found suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion in Cairngorms on Hogmanay
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A climber had a lucky Hogmanay escape after being separated from her party whilst mountaineering in the Cairngorms and being found by rescuers suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.
The alert was raised by the woman herself who was able to contact police and there was a full team call out of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team at around 5.30pm.
The group of three mountaineers had been climbing in Coire an t-Sneachda but by the time they had completed their ascent they were caught up in a blizzard.
Gales were blowing in at between 70mph and 80mph.
Watch the rescue in atrocious Hogamany weather conditions here
Fortuntately the climber was able to give the rescuers a good approximate location and the weather started to improve in the evening time.
Cairngorm team leader Iain Cornfoot said: "We left the ski area at around 3pm because the weather had become really stormy and the climbing party got caught up in that but luckily it had calmed down by the time the team members were going out on the hill.
"She was lucky in that she was able to call the police and the weather died off and so we were able to find her pretty quickly and stretcher her out.
"The woman was exhausted and suffering from the effects of hypothermia.
"The group had been caught up in a blizzard and the worst of the weather when they topped out on their (climbing) route late afternoon when the storm was at its worst.
"The winds were blowing 70mph to 80mph on the summits."
An advanced group of three rescuers found the missing climber in the boulder field of Coire an t-Sneachda whilst the remainder of the volunteers made their way in with stretchers and other equipment.
She had been unable to walk any further due to exhaustion.
Mr Cornfoot said: "After some rewarming by the members of the advanced team party, we packaged the climber into our stretcher using blizzard blankets and heat pads and carried her out to our Can-Am that was waiting in Coire Cas.
"Everyone was safe and back at base by 10.30pm."
Seventeen volunteer rescuers were involved in the rescue operation.
The Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team relies on public donations to fund the vital work that they do. For more information or to donate visit https://cmrt.org.uk
