The Munros Are Moving

[Border Reiver]

We happened to watch the BBC Countryside 999 programme yesterday and part of it was about the rescue of 3 hillwalkers lost in cloud on Beinn a Chroin. The BBC constantly stated that Beinn a Chroin is in Glen Coe and some film was shown of the Glen Coe area, even though their graphics showed it to be fairly near its actual location.
Surely the BBC researchers can be bothered to get these simple things right.
The rescue itself was about 3 walkers who were descending Beinn a Chroin on the path, yet when the cloud came down they were lost as their only map was on a Smart Phone. None were injured, but none had the nous to work it out, it was easier to phone 999 and ask to be rescued.

[IamAJMiller]

Perfect! Now if they can move them closer to Perth that'd be great!

[electricfly]

Yep, saw this yesterday and was screaming at the telly.

The problem began after the Navy Chopper had originally been on a training exercise in (Glen Coe), correct.

Then when returning to HMS Gannet they received a call from Police in Crianlarich about some climbers lost on Beinn a' Chroin, correct.

From then on, "Mr Narrator" began to assume that Beinn a' Chroin must be a Glen Coe mountain, wrong!

The descriptive loving voice-over man then punctuated this incorrect fact everytime he mentioned Beinn a' Chroin. We were repeatedly treated to this painful faux pas approximately every 30 seconds for the rest of the "thrilling clag rescue".

The BBC are getting worse when it comes to this kind of thing. The other day their new, lunchtime weatherman kept sweeping his hand along the western isles and coast when referring to eastern Scotland.

Notifying them of their errors means creating a BBC online account through their website, by the time i'd searched through all their contact pages and discovered I had to create such an account, I'd almost lost the will to live and the notion to be bothered by it, so hit the red X in the top right corner...

[peter tindal]

Bloody hell ...... I hope one doesn't get moved when I am on it ....... It could mean a longer walk out

[Circles]

Far-away Tree Munros? Go up into the clouds and when you go to come back down you are in a different place... if I remember my childhood correcty, you have to listen for the bells or the wind.

[JTweedie]

Didn't see this, but surely there's no way of getting lost if you just stick to the path that you're already on? Even if a path branches and you take the wrong one, there's very little chance of being truly lost in most of Scotland!

[stomper]

I call these SO CALLED WALKERS (NOT) IDIOTS. I personally would have left them to their own devises. They took the risk of getting lost so they should have taken the risk of getting back down. Going in the hills without the proper equipment specialy a map and compass is just asking for what they ended up with,. Do these IDIOTS realise (i don't think so what so ever) that it's not only their lives they are risking but the MRT are risking their lives at the same time. Using a smart phone as a map well these people are just plain DUMMM and should not be in the hills and if they do well i would leave them to their own devices ........POINT SAID

[hailiamdigby]

the MRT are risking their lives at the same time.

Surely the MRT deal with a lot worse situations than the one that's been described here? I doubt they lost any sleep over 3 people not using their brains. No doubt those 3 would have received an ear-bashing though.

[gammy leg walker]

Always remember going to a fund rasing night at Stirling Rugby Club for Mountain Aid with Mike Tighe & The Ochills Mountain Rescue Team in attendence & one of the team was telling a story about being called out to people lost up Dumyat ,they searched for ages and eventually found them on Anderw Gannell Hill ,once down safe they were asked why they said they were on Dumyat.................Oh said one "its the only hill name we know in the Ochills"

[Morecambe Monkey]

Been watching this show too,find it interesting but the inaccuracies are quite frustrating,always find the BBC seem to like to mislead folk for some reason. The one that has stood out so far was when the guy had fallen & broken his back on Swirral Edge on Helvellyn,the quote been "Helvellyn is the Lake District's highest fell". And there was me thinking Scafell Pike was the biggest.. I know it sounds trivial,especially when people on the programme are getting seriously injured,but you would think they would make an effort to get it right. Yours sincerely a grumpy middle age pedant.

[ouroboros]

Didn't see this, but surely there's no way of getting lost if you just stick to the path that you're already on? Even if a path branches and you take the wrong one, there's very little chance of being truly lost in most of Scotland!

You are assuming that all hills in Scotland have paths. I have to disagree with your statement.

+1

[electricfly]

To be fair to those rescued in this feature, Beinn a' Chroin is not the most straightforward of munro summits to navigate.

Even O.S. seemed rather sketchy as to where the actual summit point was situated for a while.

This does not excuse the lack of map and compass or the use of common sense from the 3 rescued.

I have the advantage of having visited Beinn a' Chroin multiple times in varying types of conditions, and can understand how, without a map and compass, and with very little hill sense, a party could become disorientated during a first visit here in claggy conditions.

With no injuries to the party, they were lucky that Rescue 177 were feeling charitible. I recently spoke to a German couple at Loch Ossian, who had got lost on Rannoch Moor overnight whilst attempting to journey from Culra Bothy to the SYHA at Ossian. The MRT they contacted told them they would not be coming to their aid as it was not deemed to be an emergency.

Perhaps being lost at altitude is the deciding factor?...

[celt54321]

i think what rtc meant was that if these 3 followed a path up then no matter how much clag there was they should have had the ability to follow the same path back down,even if they had to put their heads toghether and have a good think about it.i saw this program and i think they just got a bit lost and thought to themselves f,eck it lets phone for a chopper.one of them was laughing wene he got into the chopper.i would never call for the mrt unless i had broke a bone or thought my life was in immenent danger.i dont think with their attitude that they should have been up a hill in any conditions exept maybe in clear blue skies with an early start.

[electricfly]

i think what rtc meant was that if these 3 followed a path up then no matter how much clag there was they should have had the ability to follow the same path back down

That would be JTweedie who was suggesting the path could be re-traced.

There's no denying the three were ill-prepared, complacent about their rescue and should have received an ear-bashing from the rescue services.

As you will see when you tick off Beinn a' Chroin, the summit area is quite unconventional and retracing a path could lead them off in several dangerous directions.
Unless you know you are about to become lost and mentally map where you are walking, turning around and going back the way you came is not quite as clear-cut as it might appear.
The path off Beinn a' Chroin to the west is tricky to find in good visibility, while the safer path off the north east shoulder is a good distance away over several peaks and dips.

[celt54321]

i wll keep that in mind wene the time comes electricfly