Compiled by Claire Maitland for the Sandpiper Trust.
In the words of David Carroll “ We will always face adversity, illness, suffering and loss in our own way but the contents of this book illustrates the power of words and the solace that can be obtained both by writing and reading them”.
A tragic day on Ben Nevis with 3 climbers being killed and fourth seriously injured after being caught in an avalanche in Number 5 Gully. Our sincerest condolences go out to the families and friends of the climbers who lost their lives.
The callout came from a member of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service who saw the avalanche and a guide climbing in the locality.
The team responded with assistance from Glencoe MRT, and a group from the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre (JSMTC) who were training in the area. There was a total of 29 volunteers mountain rescuers who attended the incident.
Conditions were very difficult with very high winds, snow and thunder and lightening which restricted the support the MCA helicopters could provide despite some excellent flying.
We would like to thank everyone who assisted during the day, Glencoe MRT, the SARH helicopters and the JSMTC. We would like to put out special thanks to Graeme Moss of SAIS, JamesThacker mountain guide, Richard Bentley mountain guide who all assisted.
This year we increased our team size by recruiting a further 14 aspirant team members. Today was the first major incident some had attended and everyone performed brilliantly under difficult circumstances.
We would like to thank Police Scotland for their support and dealing with all the enquiries which naturally follow incidents of this scale.
This is the third avalanche in No 5 Gully since Saturday. On Saturday evening aa group of four climbers were avalanched while climbing in the gully. One person was swept down the gully but luckily was not buried or suffered injury and they made their way to the CIC Hut. The other 3 climbers were crag fast and team members carried on to rescue the rest of the party. A member of the SMC who was in the hut climbed up and assisted the climbers down allowing the team to stand down.
Also on Saturday, Lochaber assisted in the search and recovery of the climbers in Glencoe. the same day there was a hill walker on Ben Hiant, Ardnamurchan who suffered what was a suspected broken arm and was airlifted by a SARH helicopter.
We would urge climbers to check the SAIS avalanche information before heading out at moment. The high winds and snow are creating high avalanche risk conditions, with natural releases possible on certain aspects.
This evening a personnel locator beacon has reported on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Glencoe MRT, a local estate keeper and police are responding.
Thanks for this tweet from remote Scotland. I have spoken to several Sandpiper equipped responders lately, all extremely grateful that when asked to respond voluntarily to life threatening incidents they have a Sandpiper bag and a cosy jacket at hand.
Many thanks to Keri from The Sandpiper Trust Wildcat Project who came all the way from Elgin to demystify CPR and to explain the use of our new community defibrillator that is located on the wall outside our hall. A superbly practical input that gave some of our Crathes locals, both young and “less” young, an invaluable insight into what to do if the need arises. £68 collected from those attending and donated to Sandpiper 😁❤️
Well done to Crathes Village Hall for installing a public access defibrillator now registered with Scottish Ambulance Service and thanks to all who attended tonight’s CPR training and donated to The Sandpiper Trust
