After a series of rescues in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs areas, Central Scotland Police urged hill walkers to make sure they are properly equipped and can navigate.
Central Scotland Police said rescuers’ lives were being put at risk because walkers were often unprepared and ill-equipped for the terrain they faced. Some of the recent incidents had resulted from people being unable to navigate once bad weather with poor visibility set in. One of the rescues involved walkers lost on Conic Hill, a small peak on the West Highland Way with a clear path and surrounded by farmland, lochside and open moorland at lower levels.
Chief Insp Kevin Findlater, said: “Most of these mountain rescues can be avoided if people are better prepared.”
The officer recalled the case of a 49-year-old who called police to say he was lost and disorientated on Stuc a Chroin/Beinn Each. After a four-hour search in mist and darkness by Killin Mountain Rescue Team, the man was found several kilometres south of Beinn Each.
Ch Insp Findlater added: “He was poorly equipped, had no safety equipment and was very cold and very embarrassed.”
The BBC reported that Bill Rose, of the Killin team, commented, “Recently we have been called to assist hill walkers who have spent long, miserable hours, sometimes overnight, stranded on the mountains risking hypothermia. In some cases they have sustained serious injury by falling on steep ground they have encountered due to the inability to navigate in mist.” Bill Rose urged walkers to learn how to navigate in poor visibility with a map and compass.
England and Wales Mountain Rescue have recently published, ‘Call Out Mountain Rescue. A Pocket Guide to Safety on the Hill’ in an attempt to reduce these sort of call outs. The book covers route planning, what skills you need before setting out, how to stay safe on the hills and what to do in an emergency. Much of the information is directly applicable to hill walking in Scotland. Written by Judy Whiteside who has authored a number of books about mountain rescue, the book retails from MRC Publications at £9.99 and can be found on the Walkhighlands bookshop.