This week's stupid Ben Nevis rescue call

[gld73]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/22/mountain-rescuers-refuse-save-ben-nevis-climber-complained-wet/


I'd have Mountain Rescue on speed dial if I phoned them every time I got caught in the rain up a Scottish hill ....

[HighlandSC]

What an idiot.
What was the overnight low temperature that night?

[Sunset tripper]

Very strange. Why would you stay in the shelter over night if you were soaking wet?

[rockhopper]

Very strange. Why would you stay in the shelter over night if you were soaking wet?

Yes, that's also what I thought initially.
Then realised that the call was at 2133. With sunset at 2217 and civil twilight until 2324, he may have thought that he didn't have enough time to get down before dark - at this time of year it doesn't really get wholly dark but don't know whether there was a lot of cloud cover that night or whether he had a torch though - but that may have been why he stayed up there - cheers

[HighlandSC]

I have a feeling someone without waterproofs defintely wouldn't have packed a headtorch

[PeteR]

I have a feeling someone without waterproofs defintely wouldn't have packed a headtorch

[CharlesT]

Strikes me it wasn't just his clothing that was wet.

[Essan]

Very strange. Why would you stay in the shelter over night if you were soaking wet?

Yes, that's also what I thought initially.
Then realised that the call was at 2133. With sunset at 2217 and civil twilight until 2324, he may have thought that he didn't have enough time to get down before dark - at this time of year it doesn't really get wholly dark but don't know whether there was a lot of cloud cover that night or whether he had a torch though - but that may have been why he stayed up there - cheers

He could have got the best part of the way down in 2 hours.

But it raises the question of why he was up there so late in the day, and what his plans were if he hadn't got wet. So I wonder if he had actually been planning on staying up overnight (for the sunrise) anyway?

[Jon and Jen]

Strikes me it wasn't just his clothing that was wet.

Couple of patches behind the ears by the sound of it.

[rockhopper]

I have a feeling someone without waterproofs definitely wouldn't have packed a headtorch

Fair point I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt until I know all the facts

He could have got the best part of the way down in 2 hours. But it raises the question of why he was up there so late in the day, and what his plans were if he hadn't got wet. So I wonder if he had actually been planning on staying up overnight (for the sunrise) anyway?

Yes, I did have a think about how far I'd get in 2hrs but you make a fair point. MRT FB page notes: "Silly season is here with a walker calling in this week saying he was on summit soaked through with no water proofs. He was told in no uncertain terms that we would not be coming to his assistance - it was mid summers day and plenty of light and safety was to start walking down. He decided to stay in summit shelter and was walked down by another climber in the morning" - cheers

[al78]

Strikes me it wasn't just his clothing that was wet.

Couple of patches behind the ears by the sound of it.

I can imagine why someoine would be afraid on Ben Nevis if they were soaking wet. The summit temperature will be single digits, there will likely be a significant breeze, which will chill the person through evaporation on top of wind chill. He is three hours at least from the valley floor. If he is equally careless with the rest of his clothing choices, he might be wearing cotton clothing or jeans which soak up water like a sponge and are then heavy and slow to dry, prolonging the chilling effect. All this adds up to him possibly getting cold enough to risk hypothermia. The Ben Nevis plateau will be like a lowland England poor January day at this time of year in terms of weather conditions, imagine having a bucket of water poured over you in the middle of winter, and then being told you have to walk three hours on a rough track to get home in a 30 mph wind.

[HighlandSC]

I don't know what the weather was like that night.

The next few days west highland forecast is between 11-18C at 900m, and small to negligible wind. Even a bit higher on nevis, wouldn't be a different world.
It's a reasonable assumption that MRT were comfortable leaving a wet person up there in whatever conditions that night. If it was as dire as your example I'm sure they'd have mobilized.

[Sunset tripper]

The telegraph report is most likely short of many of the facts. If the police and especially the LMRT are willing to leave the person on the ben it is usually going to be a good call.
It seems the guy got down safely by himself the next day and hopefully learned something from his experience.

[al78]

I don't know what the weather was like that night.

The next few days west highland forecast is between 11-18C at 900m, and small to negligible wind. Even a bit higher on nevis, wouldn't be a different world.
It's a reasonable assumption that MRT were comfortable leaving a wet person up there in whatever conditions that night. If it was as dire as your example I'm sure they'd have mobilized.

The next few days a heatwave is forecast thanks to a large anticyclone right over the UK, with temperatures well above average everywhere, so it will be warmer than average at summit height as well. In any case, I was suggesting why someone would be scared being soaked at altitude hours away from decent shelter, and that it is a bit unfair to be mocking him for being scared after putting himself in that situation, even if he was highly irresponsible.

When I was walking the Minigaig, I made a (with hindsight) a dodgy decision to continue up to the high moor instead of waiting a bit longer for thunderstorms to move off (I thought they had when I decided to continue). I was afraid when I got up high and found the storms hadn't moved off as expected, a lightning strike directly on the path ahead of me, and sheltering in my tent waiting for it to pass, and hoping I didn't get hit. I would challenge anyone not to have been a bit nervous in that situation, even if it was caused by my sub-optimal decision.

[rgf101]

I can imagine why someone would be afraid on Ben Nevis if they were soaking wet.

Aye, I'd not be requesting rescue, but if I did find myself in those circumstances I might well ask for advice on whether I should stay put or head down, and a "if you haven't heard from me by 1am, I'm probably in trouble" arrangement. The thought of coming down the Ben at night, in wet clothes...