Friday, 2 March 2007

Unprepared

Ben Nevis
An ill-equipped young Russian hillwalker who fell and broke her leg on Ben Nevis was lucky to survive, according to mountain rescuers.

The woman was reported missing at about 2240 GMT on Thursday, triggering a search by Lochaber Mountain Rescue. She was found on Friday at Allt Corrie Eoghainn, south of Ben Nevis, without a map, compass or proper clothing.

The woman has now been taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for treatment to an ankle injury.

She left the youth hostel where she was staying to start the climb at 0830 GMT on Thursday but failed to return, although she had called for boyfriend in Northern Ireland at night to say she was off the hill. Terry Confield, Lochaber Mountain Rescue team leader, said: "She was very lucky to endure her night on the hill.

"It was a cold night, but she survived it. It was a very lucky find considering the information we were given. We might not have gone out on the information passed to the boyfriend. In the morning, because she was still officially a missing person we conducted a search with the help of Rescue 137 from RAF Lossiemouth. She was eventually located at around 1.30pm about 3,200ft up the hill - with a severely broken leg."

The woman was airlifted off the peak by helicopter and taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William before being transferred to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

1 comment:

  1. I'm shaking my head here..!  You just despair when folks think so lightly of their own lives..don't you?  Maybe all hill walkers or mountaineers should be made to carry miniaturised sattelite receivers...or whatever these beacons are called that round the world yachtsmen use.  Perhaps some firm could take up a business hiring them out with a possible spin off to the mountain rescue teams funds to help in the expenses of those being rescued.  Could be a lucrative business if it was an enforced law?  Just a silly thought.  She was very lucky!    Jeanie

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