Four men were rescued from the face of a mountain in Snowdonia on Boxing Day after becoming lost on a hike and sliding down part of the cliff face. Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation shared details of the rescue mission on December 26, after the group found themselves cragfest on Tryfan in dark and cold conditions.
Tryfan is part of the Glyderau peak group, and is 917.5 meters high. The mountain is known for its craggy peaks and is a popular hiking route in Snowdonia. The rescue team were called after four men were caught on the east face of the mountain after sliding down part of the route after getting lost.
Detailing the call the rescue organisation said: "The 4 had driven up and arrived in the car park at lunch time, intending to climb the north ridge. Having not summited by the time it started to get dark they sensibly turned around. Unfortunately, with only 2 torches and Google maps to navigate by, they descended by a different route and ended up sliding down the climbers descent of Nor Nor Gully, getting stuck halfway down (Or up) and calling for help."
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They confirmed that five team members were deployed as part of the mission and 150m of ropes and associated rope rescue gear were used. Once on scene, they had to climb Nor Nor Gully, before traversing above the stuck party, then downclimbing to them.
"Due to the danger of falling, all casualties were secured in harnesses and helmets before being given a welfare check, warm clothing and torches. A twin line rope rescue system was set up to lower each casualty, plus team chaperone, down to safe ground before the long walk-off back to base for some mince pies, a debrief and directions to their AirB+B in Porthmadog," said the rescue organisation.
After sharing the details of the call out on their Facebook page the men were met with a raft of criticism in the comments, only for the rescue organisation to come to their defence stating that the group did "a lot of good things" despite having to be rescued.
Urging people not to judge, the rescue organisation said: "It's easy to judge but our 4 adventurers did a number of good things here that most comments have missed. They made an early decision to abandon their objective to descend. They stayed together and spent 2 hours trying to self rescue. They stopped and called for help, complied with instructions, and responded to Phonefind. It's easy to judge, everyone makes mistakes and needs a bit of help now and then."
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