Such stupidity...amazing!
ELEVEN children and three adults had to be airlifted off a mountain in a two hour rescue mission after they got lost in the dark.The two families were branded “foolish” after they underestimated a walk up Cadair Idris in Snowdonia, and got into difficulties making their way down from the summit.
The resulting rescue mission to get the group safely down cost well over £4,000 and went on until midnight.
The party, from Manchester, including the youngest child, aged eight, and the eldest 15, had set off at around 11am on Wednesday.
Around 10 hours later they got stuck on a slope while making their descent down the south side as night started drawing in.
They had meant to go down the north side. Realising they were lost they called police, who alerted the Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team just after 9.15pm.
It was decided the best way to get them down was by RAF Valley’s Sea King helicopter, which costs around £2,000 an hour to run. Seven of them had to be winched off the ridge and the others diverted to flat ground where the helicopter could land.
David Williams, team leader of Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team, said being unprepared when venturing into potentially dangerous places is “foolish”. He said the group were ill-equipped and had “bitten off more than they could chew”.
He added: “They completely miscalculated the difficulty of the walk and were inappropriately equipped for such a journey.
“They underestimated the height of the mountain – one of their party was struggling physically.
“I would urge people to always assess every journey before embarking. If needs be, seek advice from tourist information centres or the rangers at Snowdonia National Park – even check the internet, it’s that easy. In this case, these families had bitten off far more than they could chew.”
Graham O’Hanlon, also from ASART, said: “The group were flown in two trips down to the rugby field in Dolgellau, where our volunteers organised transport to collect the group’s minibus from Mynffordd on the other side of the mountain.”
Pilot and squadron leader Alex Brassington from RAF Valley said: “Fortunately, none of the 14 people were injured and were all safely dropped off just after midnight.”
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2012/08/10/11-children-and-3-adults-airlifted-off-peak-in-north-wales-55578-31590297/
