Last year saw a record number of call outs for Scotland’s mountain rescue teams. What was behind this increase – and can the teams cope? Paul Webster interviews Scottish Mountain Rescue statisticians Tom Adams and Andy Morgan to find out the truths behind the heated posts and discussions we often see on social media.
PAUL: Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
TOM: I’m Tom Adams, SMR statistician. I have been a member of Oban Mountain Rescue Team for around 9 years. I am a keen walker, scrambler and mountain biker myself. I used to climb a lot but haven’t done much for a few years. My day job is numerical modelling for aquaculture.
ANDY: Andy Morgan, SMR stats assistant. I’m a member of the Scottish Cave Rescue Organisation, which is part of SMR. I’ve been on the team for ten years. I do caving and running, plus go up mountains occasionally as there aren’t so many caves in Scotland. I work as a statistician in the Civil Service.
PAUL: The big headline of the 2021 rescue statistics is that it was the busiest year ever for Scottish Mountain Rescue – with 660 independent incidents responded to by member teams. A lot of people think that participation in outdoor activities has risen sharply since the Coronavirus pandemic – does this fit with your feelings? Is there any way of knowing whether the increase in incidents is in line with what we’d expect from increased levels of participation?
TOM: One recurring feature we see in the mountain rescue incidents is an increase at times when lots of people are out on the hills, whether that is a weekend of good weather during an unsettled period, a snowy bank holiday, or a long dry summer. Since the arrival of Covid the pattern of incidents has been closely related to changes in restrictions. It does seem there has been an increase across the board in the last two years. I would agree with the idea that this is linked to increased participation; if only through observation of local hills. Parking areas seem to be much busier than they were a few years ago, and the main hills in the area are often quite busy. Whether the link between participation and incidents is completely proportional, I’m not sure!
ANDY: It would be good to get a measure of how the trips to the hills has changed each year, as that could give a rescue rate. Indeed, something like number of hits on the Walkhighlands website each month could give a rough measure of the change in trends, or if Mountaineering Scotland have seen an increase in members.
PAUL: Yes, we’ve seen big increases in walks downloaded from Walkhighlands since the pandemic, though it is hard to know what is changing behaviour and what is people finding out about the website.
I suppose that, if many new people have taken up hillwalking and mountaineering since the pandemic, this would mean there would be – for a time – proportionately more inexperienced hillwalkers in the community. This seems to fit with the statistics in the report that show that the big rise in call-outs has been in the areas that are very accessible to Scotland’s cities, with only a very small rise in the Highlands. Do you think there’s a current wave of new, inexperienced hillwalkers, and things may settle down as this demographic gains more skills?
TOM: Yes, within the SMR incident counts for last year there seemed to have been a greater increase in incident numbers in areas closer to population centres (note that Glencoe, Lochaber and Cairngorm – all in Highland – are not SMR members, so I cannot speak for their stats). Does this reflect a wave of new inexperienced hillgoers? I’m not sure. I’m sure there are many people who have been tempted into the outdoors for the first time as a result of the pandemic, but I think the increase in incidents in certain areas might also reflect changes in behaviour by existing hill users – whether that was due to restrictions that were in place at certain times, due to ongoing changes in willingness to travel long distances, or an increased appreciation of what is available on the doorstep.
ANDY: It’s a bit hard to tell, as the increase in rescues could also be explained by experienced mountaineers heading out in the UK more. Looking at the statistics, the number of people assisted in mountaineering incidents increased by 27% in 2021 compared to 2019 which was before the pandemic. Of the top 3 causes of incidents, the highest was slip/trip which increased by 51% between 2019 and 2021. The next two highest causes of incidents, in 2019 and 2021 were navigation errors and being lost, which increased by 28% and 26% respectively. Navigation errors and being lost are perhaps more likely to be associated with inexperience, so it’s interesting that actually they only increased in line with percentage increase in the number of people assisted. The percentages of people assisted in each age group was a similar pattern in 2019 and 2021.
PAUL: That’s really interesting and suggests that little has changed in terms of the skills of the average hillgoer, that it’s just an increase in the numbers of people going walking.
Out of the 660 incidents in 2021, only just over half of them – 345 – were related to hillwalking or mountaineering. I think alot of people may be unaware of the other work that mountain rescue teams do for the community; can you give us a flavour of some of this work?
TOM: In most years mountaineering incidents make up around half of the incidents attended by mountain rescue teams. Note that “mountaineering” is here defined by activity (hillwalking, rock/winter climbing, or scrambling) as opposed to location. So some of those non-mountaineering incidents are still in a mountain environment; skiers, mountain bikers, paragliders and so on.
But teams also respond to a wide range of other incidents where access to difficult terrain is necessary. Many of these will be related to recreational activities such as rural walking, cycling and water sports, but there are also plenty of incidents assisting police in so called “resilience” work. A common tasking might be assisting in the search for missing persons; sometimes overdue returning home, but also instances where mental health is involved – and unfortunately many suicide cases. Teams are often called out to assist ambulance crews in accessing injured people in tricky spots, including injuries at work (farming or forestry, for example).
Mountain rescue teams are also frequently called upon by their local communities to assist at a wide range of events, whether that is providing marshalls or first aid cover for sporting events.
ANDY: I’d add that teams assisted quite a few stranded drivers during the “Beast from the East” a few years ago, which is another good example of the teams helping the wider community.
PAUL: Social media posts about mountain-related accidents and rescues tend to attract members of the public criticising those rescued from putting people at risk. There’s perhaps a perception (often from those who don’t go to the mountains) that people are taking unjustifiable risks, going out in very poor conditions, travelling to Scotland from places with less understanding of the conditions, and inevitably getting themselves into trouble.
No doubt such cases do exist, but your statistics report paints a very different picture. It shows that the big majority of call-outs are to people who are out in good weather conditions, to resident Scots, and are probably proportionate in terms of age and gender to participants. They most often happen on paths, in less remote parts of the country. A simple slip is the most common cause, which could happen to anyone. The media tends to sensationalise in order to get attention. What can we all do to try to change public perceptions?
TOM: Of course there will always be incidents where the casualty “should have known better”, but it’s easy to say that when you are reading an account after the fact. It’s also easy to forget all the times you nearly slipped up yourself – I know in my mountaineering career there are several times when things could have turned out very differently, in some case due to factors outside my control. Most rescue team members have probably been in a few scrapes themselves and so I think generally take a fairly sympathetic view to folk needing a rescue.
Your assessment of the broad stats is pretty accurate. I think the challenge is that it’s the occasional big incidents that end up in the media, leading to the inevitable outcry and calls for access to the hills to be closed off and so on. I’m not sure there’s much to be done, but equally I’m not too worried. People are entitled to their opinion, but I would be very surprised if isolated incidents led to new laws being enacted!
ANDY: There are quite a few arguments we can make to counter complaints about people being “idiots for going out to somewhere dangerous” and the other familiar cry of “they should be charged for their rescue”.
Firstly, the rescue teams are volunteers and mountaineers or cavers themselves, and part of the reason many of us take part is to help our own in our community – it’s reassuring to know that our peers are out there to have our backs if something goes wrong. To counteract the cost argument, the physical and mental health benefits of people walking in the hills probably saves the taxpayer much more money compared to the cost of rescues and medical treatment.
Secondly, if people are charged for rescues, who are taxpayers themselves, then where do we draw the line? Getting in a car has a risk, so should people be charged if they unfortunately have an accident, if the logic of charging for rescues is extended. Finally, it’s human nature to explore new places, if our distant ancestors didn’t have this urge, our ancestors wouldn’t have hadn’t come down from the trees and we wouldn’t have emerged as a species, and we wouldn’t have colonized the world and being sitting here now!
The mountaineering community perhaps needs to promote the benefits of being out in the hills, and put the risks in context. Perhaps we could help people understand who carries our mountain rescue and why, and sell the wider benefits to the community of the mountain rescue teams. I also sadly see attacks from within the mountaineering community on social media. As Tom said it’s easy to criticise, but we all make mistakes. I’m sure there isn’t an experienced mountaineer out there who hasn’t got lost or tripped at some point, and we learn from our mistakes as we become more experienced.
PAUL: Indeed – I’ve a weak knee and have dislocated my kneecap in the mountains quite a few times over the years. So far I’ve always managed to relocate it and struggle down without a callout – but I’m always aware that the next time could turn out different.
Whilst many callouts – such as those for a slip, or illness – may be unavoidable, it’s always worth focussing on those which could have been prevented through better skills. Making navigation errors is the one that crops up again and again. Discussion about this often boils down to arguing about the navigation tools people are using – with pro- and anti- technology factions, when it seems to me that it’s more important to properly understand both what your tools can do, and their limitations (such as reliability or battery life). Being able to interpret terrain on a proper map remains the essential skill, whether it’s on a screen or paper. There are plenty of stories about people who got lost because they were trying to use Google maps, or didn’t know their battery would run out and had no back-up, but of course we don’t get to hear about all the times where people whose gps or smartphone kept them right on track and avoided a callout. Do you use GPS yourselves?
TOM: Yes, the ability to look at a map and relate what it shows to the features around you is a pretty critical skill in the hills, whether that is on a screen or on paper. GPS does get a bad reputation, but I think the key issue lies in peoples’ use of technology unquestioningly – which has resulted in more than one incident reporter using a certain phone app giving a location in completely the wrong place to the emergency services. Phones are great, but don’t substitute for experience and paying attention!
I use GPS pretty often on the hill. I sometimes worry I’m getting lazy and force myself to work from a map only, but I know there are also times I would really have struggled to do anything useful without the tech helping me out (skiing off one of the Loch Tay hills in a whiteout would be one example).
ANDY: It would be interesting to carry out a survey to find out how many people have been helped by tech. I carry a GPS as a back-up, with lots of spare batteries, on the hill and it’s reassuring to know I have it there. In cave rescue, GPS makes it so much easier to find cave entrances. These are often a small hole no more than a metre across, and on featureless misty moorland, using a map and six figure grid reference you can spend quite some time finding them. With a GPS you can find them straightaway rather than walking within a couple of metres of them without seeing them. Having a phone to call rescue when walking is a luxury and makes it seem relative safe to me as we can’t use phones in caves!
PAUL: How has this technology changed mountain rescue itself?
TOM: Technology has changed rescues dramatically. Teams have been using GPS for quite a while now, including trackers which report location back to the control vehicle in order for the shout manager to see what’s going on. The most recent development has been the introduction of digital radios, which relay identity and location of the caller to all other radios (including base). This makes keeping tabs on everyone much easier. Another growing area is the use of drones, which are becoming much more capable with longer battery life, broader range of operating conditions and so on. There is a group within SMR dedicated to their use (SARAA). With all of this, however, there are still times when reliance on old fashioned techniques is what gets teams through.
PAUL: Scottish Mountain Rescue volunteers put in 31,799 hours of work in 2021. There may be good or unavoidable reasons why callouts have increased sharply, but how has this increased strain affected rescue teams? Do teams need to expand – or is this happening already? Has this put a strain on funding – is more government help needed? How can the hillwalking community help?
TOM: Teams have generally been dealing with the increased load admirably. I think teams may have expanded slightly over the last few years – it is hard to say whether this applies across the board but I think the pandemic may also have affected how individuals engage with the team they are a member of. There were long periods without training or callouts in the early days, and the additional PPE and protocol has definitely placed a burden on everyone involved.
My own perception is that we are in a reasonable place at the moment; things just about balance out and teams are able to do what they need to. Teams are generally able to cope with short term variations as experienced over the last couple of years, but if there is a sustained increase in activity, teams would definitely have to take action in response to this. Increasing membership is one aspect, but there is also the aspect of equipment, vehicles and other resources.
ANDY: If people want to put something back into their community, then I would recommend joining a rescue team. It’s highly rewarding and I enjoy the camaraderie with people who come from all walks of life but share a common love of the outdoors.
PAUL: Have public donations and fundraising increased?
TOM: Fundraising activities slowed significantly during the pandemic due to the cancellation of many public events, but thankfully this seems to be getting back to normal now. 1 in 5 rescues are currently funded thanks to support from the Scottish Government. However we rely on public support to fund the majority of our rescues, and we are hugely grateful for those members of the public who have supported Scottish Mountain Rescue and our member teams.
We are now facing new challenges around rising inflation and the economic uncertainty. Like many charities, we are unsure what impact this will have.
The support of the public and the hill walking community is really vital to keep us running. You can support Mountain Rescue in Scotland by donating or fundraising for your local team or Scottish Mountain Rescue. There are lots of ways to support us, from leaving a gift in your will, to taking on a fundraising challenge or event. You could encourage your company or place of work to support Mountain Rescue, make a donation, or sign up to a monthly donation. We are hugely grateful to our supporters who make a monthly donation, having that regular support allows us to plan for the future.
PAUL: I’d like to thank both of you not just for your help with this article, but for all your time volunteering to help folk out on the hills. If readers would like to set up donations to Scottish Mountain Rescue, you can do so here:
Regular Donation: https://www.scottishmountainrescue.org/give-regularly/
One-off donation: https://www.scottishmountainrescue.org/donate-today/