05/05/2010

 

It’s a slippery slope...

Members of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation resorted to a less than orthodox technique to free the woman, who had become lodged after falling from a route in Cwm Idwal last Saturday.

When initial attempts to free the woman failed, the team resorted to using washing up liquid to lubricate the rock face, allowing her to be pulled to safety.

Chris Lloyd of the rescue team, told outdoor pursuits website Grough.co.uk: “We received a call for a fallen leader rock climber on Gribin Facet, a popular crag at the entrance to Cwm Idwal in the Ogwen Valley.

“Her leg had slipped down a crack and was trapped. We had great concern this woman in her early 20s as there was a risk of tissue swelling and preventing easy extraction. Whilst team members were lowered from the top, others were setting up ropeway evacuations for down the crag and then across the boulder field.

“With the aid of ropes to pull her up and a bottle of washing-up liquid, the limb was extracted. She was lowered to the ground and was able to walk off the mountain to her car…and drive away!”

The incident was one of a number of call-outs the team received over the weekend, including a man in his 60s who suffered facial injuries following a fall on Saturday and another man in his 20s who required hospital treatment after a 20ft fall on Sunday.

The Ogwen Valley team has now dealt with 33 incidents this year, involving 44 people – an average of one call-out every four days.

The high frequency of incidents has been replicated across the country, with figures published earlier this year showing that call-outs in England and Wales have increased by a fifth in the past 12 months.

The increase is being blamed on more people holidaying in the British countryside, combined with poor map-reading skills, and a lack of fitness.

Cumbria Mountain Rescue responded to the most incidents, with 438 calls in 2009, compared with 400 in 2008.

North Wales rescue volunteers were out 252 times in 2009, up from 151 the year before.

The Yorkshire Dales recorded the biggest increase - up more than 100 per cent, from 39 to 81.

The figures relate to serious cases only, with many more minor call-outs that did not make it into the statistics.

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