A really good turn as Scouts help rescue injured climber

Published on Wednesday 7 January 2009 20:57

AN INJURED climber was helped to safety by a group of Scouts after they found her lying injured hundreds of feet up a snow-covered mountain.

The teenagers lived up to their motto of Be Prepared when they found the 29-year-old woman in difficulty in Coire Cas in the Cairngorms.

After raising the alarm they stayed with the climber, who had suffered a broken leg, kept her comfortable while assistance arrived and later helped to bring her down off the mountain and on to hospital.

The incident happened in freezing temperatures on 30 December while the Scouts, who were from a group in North Bradley, Wiltshire, were on an expedition in the area.

The woman, from Leeds, was walking with her husband in Coire Cas, near the Cairngorm ski area, when she slipped and broke her leg.

Neil Wills, one of the Scout leaders, radioed for help while trying to shelter the stricken climber.

He said: "Given the worsening conditions, I realised we could help her out in a quicker and more efficient way by radioing our bus driver below.

"The driver alerted the ranger while we made the lady comfortable and sheltered her from the elements."

Heather Morning, the Cairngorm Ranger, who is a member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, co-ordinated the operation, which also involved members of rescue teams from RAF Kinloss and Dundonnell, who coincidentally happened to be in the area at the time.

Ms Morning said: "A man with a party of Scouts came in to report that they had come across a woman with a suspected broken leg just outside the ski area.

"A couple of the Scouts stayed with her while others raised the alarm. We didn't need a call-out of the Cairngorm team as we had plenty of manpower. The casualty had plenty of attention."

Later, four of the Scouts, Pete Woodhead, Harry Newman and David Keiller, all 17, and Andrew Woodhead, 20, joined other rescuers in helping the injured woman on to a stretcher.

They then carried her to the mountain funicular, which was operated specially to bring the casualty down the mountain. An ambulance waiting at the base station then took the woman to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Ms Morning said: "The injured woman was about 400 metres from the middle station and the Scouts helped carry her on the stretcher to the train."

She said the climber, who was very well equipped, had been walking on easy ground, but she was thought to have slipped or tripped on her crampons.

Ms Morning added: "It was a very unfortunate incident, but she was well looked after."

Scout Harry Newman said: "It was my first rescue and my good turn for the day. I felt proud to have played a part in her safe return."

And Pete Woodhead added: "It was an honour to serve a fellow climber who really needed help. I would certainly do it again, should the occasion arise."