Duo in joggers and trainers stuck on Cairngorms mountain in minus 15C: ‘They couldn’t have survived the night’
The two men started their climb of 4295 feet high Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms at 6pm.
Two hikers became trapped on Britain’s second highest mountain in minus 15C temperatures wearing just jogging bottoms and trainers.
The pair, in their 20s, had set off at 6pm on Tuesday to climb Ben Macdui, 4,295ft high, in the Cairngorms.
But two and a half hours later, in deep darkness, they were calling for help – having become stuck in terrible conditions and with hypothermia setting in.
The duo, who had set out from Edinburgh, became trapped in the Goat Track area of Coire an t-Sneachda – the Corrie of the Snow.
Their plight sparked a large emergency response that saw rescuers out on the mountain for hours.
Thirteen members of Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team went to their aid and found the two men in “a precarious state”.
Team leader Iain Cornfoot said: “You have to ask why did they do what they did?”
‘They were incredibly ill-equipped’
The pair were wearing jogging bottoms and trainers, and were without any semblance of equipment for the mountains.
They had neither crampons nor an ice axe and did not have the means to keep warm.
Iain said: “They wouldn’t have survived the night with what they were wearing.”
“One was suffering from hypothermia. He was in a bad way.
“The other was also very cold. They were three metres apart about 1,050 metres up. It was minus 15C with the wind chill.
“One was also in a very precarious position.
“If he had slipped, he would have gone a long way and would have suffered serious injuries.”
He added: “We have no idea what they were trying to do.
“They had left Edinburgh at noon and then started to climb Ben Macdui at 6pm in those conditions and with that equipment, or lack of it.
“They were incredibly ill equipped.
“The pair had set off intending to climb Ben Macdui, but without crampons or an ice axe they quickly found themselves unable to continue on steep ground in the winter conditions.
“It was very icy. It was a good job they stopped where they did.
“If they had gone further up in the dark and wandered about it would not have had a good outcome.”
After finding and warming the pair, the team lowered them down to the Corrie floor.
The rescuers returned to base at about 1am, where the climbers were warmed and given advice about the folly of their actions.
They did not require medical treatment.
[Source: Press and Journal]
