Team members await a helicopter uplift to Etchachan during a callout to search for two hill walkers reported missing in the vicinity of Ben Mheadhoin
A Search and Rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth assists in the search.
Stretcher evacuation of a casualty down the Glas Allt, Lochnagar, during a recent search and rescue training event.
Team members practice winch lowering and uplift during a joint training exercise with RAF personnel from Lossiemouth.
The
early indications were that the winter of 2006/2007 was going to follow a
similar pattern to the winters of the previous few years – little in the
way of prolonged snowfall, and as a consequence a relatively quiet winter
for Scottish mountain rescue teams. In fact the winter proved to be
something of a mixed bag – what snow there was came quite late, but not
really in any great quantity even in the hills, and although there were a
number of incidents in the Cairngorms few of them were, from a mountain
rescue point of view, very significant.
On
looking back over the last few years we have begun to see a changing
pattern emerge in relation to the number of callouts, and also when in the
course of the year they take place. Gone it would appear are the days when
we could reasonably expect to be busiest in the depths of a snowy winter
– indeed over the last five or so years the Team has consistently
recorded more callouts during the summer and autumn months than during the
winter. What was perhaps most significant about 2007 was the generally
appalling wet weather which characterised much of the year, and gave rise
to some interesting conditions on the hills and as a direct result some
significant “summer” callouts.
In
early August the Team was involved in two quite major callouts in the
course of a single weekend. One callout which resulted from a party
getting stuck on Eagles Ridge on Lochnagar following the onset of heavy
rain required a major effort by all the local teams. Deteriorating weather
conditions and the fact that one of the cragfast climbers had been stuck
on a stance for some ten hours created a difficult situation. Teams were
deployed to the top of the cliff and also to the base of the climb. The
cragfast climber was eventually rescued from the cliff by a member of the
Braemar rescue team who was lowered seven hundred feet from the top of the
cliff. Fortunately the climber was uninjured and was able to walk out from
the base of the climb escorted by members of the Aberdeen Team – by
which time the deteriorating weather would not have disgraced a mid winter
day in January.
Two
days later and we were all out again looking for two walkers who were
reported overdue from a walk in the central Cairngorms. Heavy rain over
the previous two days had created significant problems in terns of some of
the burns, and there was initial concern that we might not be able to get
to the search area, which was initially identified as Ben Mheadhoin.
Fortunately we were able to call on the services of a search and rescue
helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth. The helicopter was able to ferry all the
Team into Etchachan and we deployed from there. As the weather gradually
improved we searched over Ben Mheadhoin – meanwhile the helicopter was
able to cover the area as the cloud lifted, and around mid morning it
spotted the two missing walkers and was able to evacuate them safely out
to Glenmore Lodge.
Training & Membership
Training
as ever continues to be an important focus of our activities – the need
to maintain a high level of operational effectiveness underpins all that
we do as a mountain rescue team. During 2007 we involved Team members in a
wide variety of training scenarios; some of these were designed to enhance
our first aid and casualty handling skills, whilst others addressed the
need to provide team members with the expertise to drive our vehicles
safely off-road. Central of course to all of our training is the need to
maintain a high level of proficiency in all the basic mountaineering
skills, and also to ensure that Team members have a good local knowledge
of our “patch”. Our training weekends are designed to allow Team
members to do all of these things during the course of a yearlong training
cycle. Having said this however the lack of decent winters over the last
few years has certainly presented us with challenges when it comes to
undertaking high quality winter training. Nevertheless we have generally
been able cover the essentials, although some of our “younger” team
members are, I think, beginning to wonder if the stories of long snowy
winters with good climbing ice and great ski touring conditions are simply
figments of the old hands memories! Who knows maybe these days will come
again.
Team
training takes place on seventeen weekends spread throughout the year and
this constitutes a very significant commitment for all Team members.
Training with other local teams and with the RAF search and rescue
helicopters forms a very important part of our overall training programme,
and during 2007 we held a number of joint training exercises which help
team members to share information and skills. These events always prove
fruitful and are an excellent way to disseminate information and to
encourage debate about the best way of tackling a technical rescue
problem. It is also a very good way of ensuring Team members from a number
of different teams get to know each other – this can have real benefits
when teams are required to work together under difficult and stressful
situations.
For
most of 2007 Team membership was around thirty and this has remained quite
steady now for the past two or three years. It remains a challenge however
to recruit suitable Team members, and although we do get a reasonably
steady stream of potential recruits I think that the commitment which we
ask of Team members is for many quite daunting. It is really interesting
to note that over the past ten or so years the age profile of the Team, in
common with almost all Scottish Rescue Teams, has become something of a
cause for concern. I think that one of the biggest challenges facing us
over the next ten years will be to recruit a sufficient number of
“young” team members to ensure that the team can not only maintain its
effectiveness but also has the right age profile to continue and develop.
Equipment & Accommodation
In
the course of 2007 we decided that two of our trailers needed to be
replaced. The Team currently operates three long wheelbase landrovers each
one pulling a custom built trailer. Two of the trailers are designed to
carry team members’ personal equipment, and we had become increasingly
concerned about security when the trailers have to be left at the side of
the road in the event of a callout. Although this does not happen very
often it is always something which we have to think about, and given the
potential replacement cost of equipment and the ease with which a
tarpaulin over an open trailer can be “breached” we felt that it was
time to do something about this. Two new trailers have now been purchased
– each with a robust lockable aluminium cover; hopefully this will
ensure that on those occasions when we are required to leave vehicles
unattended at the side of the road that we can be reasonably confident
that the equipment will still be there when we return.
In
the course of 2007 we have also had to put a significant amount of effort
into maintaining our two bothies at the Spittal of Muick and at
Although
the Team's main focus of activity is of course mountain rescue we have
over many years developed an important secondary role with local hill
walking and mountaineering clubs as a source of advice on mountain safety.
In the course of an average year members of the Team will undertake a wide
variety of talks and demonstrations, all designed to raise the awareness
of walkers and climbers to the potential hazards of a day out on the
Scottish hills. The feedback which we get from these talks is very
positive and helps, I believe, to develop an important and positive
connection between the Team and the local mountaineering community. I
would also like to think that the advice we have provided over the years
has helped to prevent incidents on the hill, and perhaps given walkers and
climbers a better perspective on how to stay safe when out for a day on
the hills. Opportunities to talk to youth organisations such as Scouts and
Guides also provide a means of perhaps encouraging young people into the
idea that at some point in the future membership of a rescue team is
something that they might want to consider.
As
another year passes I am, as always, struck by the tremendous commitment
which Team members give to the organisation. Their willingness to turn out
in the worst of weather and their good-natured enthusiasm is something
that money simply could not buy. The commitment of course goes well beyond
turning out for callouts – maintaining vehicles and equipment is
absolutely vital, and, although not perhaps as glamorous as callouts, the
long hours spent in a cold garage doing all the behind the scenes jobs is
an essential part of ensuring that when a “shout” does come that
everything is where it should be and working!
Reflections!
As
I enter my thirty-eighth year in the Team and my sixteenth year as Team
leader I can reflect back on a lot of interesting times. I have been a
member of the Team virtually all of my adult life and I consider myself to
have been fortunate indeed to have had the opportunity to be involved with
such a remarkable organisation and some equally remarkable people. The
changing nature of mountain rescue and the different pattern of callouts
throughout the year will, together with the challenge of recruiting new
Team members, give us much to think about over the months and years ahead.
The one thing that I am confident of is that the Team will continue to
benefit from the dedication, commitment and effort of its members. In an
uncertain world it is difficult to make predictions; however, having
watched the development of mountain rescue over almost forty years, one
thing I am certain of is that the need for well trained geographically
distinct mountain rescue teams will remain. The challenge is to ensure
that these teams remain well equipped and supported.
In
the course of 2007 the Team was once again well supported by the
Finally
I would like to thank all the members of the Team, past and present, for
their dedication and commitment to mountain rescue. I would also like to
say a special thanks to those people, be they family or friends, who
provide the behind the scenes support for team members – we are all very
conscious that without your support and tolerance, maintaining our
involvement in mountain rescue would be extremely difficult.
Mario
Di Maio
Team
Leader
One of AMRTs fleet of three long wheel base Landrovers, specially equipped for Mountain Rescue activities.
The Teams training bothys in Glen Derry, and at the Spital of Muick
