September and October 2021
September and October were a busy couple of months for AMRT.
September started with Team training in the Glen Muick area and whilst on return to base, a callout came through for a walker with a lower limb injury on Mither Tap, Bennachie. The casualty was tended to by AMRT and members of Braemar MRT who were in the area, then stretchered off the hill.
2 weeks later a number of the team returned to Bennachie in support of Chris and Iska Birnie who were attempting to walk the equivalent height of Mount Everest up Mither Tap, raising money for AMRT and Scottish Mountain Rescue in the process. The following day the Team returned to Bennachie one final time to support the annual Bennachie Hill Race running event.
The team's weekend of Bennachie events was rounded off on Sunday evening by a callout to Deeside, to assist in searching for and extracting lost mountain bikers. Once it became clear that Braemar Mountain Rescue parties already on the hill had located the missing persons and did not require assistance for the extraction, the team were stood down from their staging area.
At the start of October unfortunately we learned of the death of Bill Marshall, the first Team Leader of Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Team and the founder of the Team. It would be difficult to overstate Bill’s contribution to not only the creation and development of the Aberdeen Team but also his vision for mountain rescue across Scotland. Our thoughts are with Bill’s family at this time.
The weekend of the 9th and 10th of October proved to be an extremely busy one with 4 callouts in different parts of Aberdeenshire. On the 8th and 9th, the team deployed with Braemar Mountain Rescue & Tayside Mountain Rescue Team, in search of a missing walker in the Lochnagar area.
Team members located the walker on Saturday morning, before deploying to a second incident on Bennachie with Braemar team members, to assist an injured runner taking part in the Bennachie Ultramarathon. On Sunday 10th October, the Team deployed to the Cairn Toul area with Cairngorm and Braemar MRT’s in search of a missing walker. Thankfully the individual was located safe and well after multiple nights out in the Cairngorms. Thanks to Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 151 for their assistance in lifting team members up the hill. To round off the weekend’s events, the Team were deployed late on Sunday evening to reports of crag fast climbers on Eagle Ridge, Lochnagar. The climbers were rescued from the route by members of Braemar MRT and AMRT before being safely walked off the hill. Thanks again for the assistance of Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 151 for their assistance in getting team members and rigging kit up high.
