Drunk men trigger major rescue operation on Cader Idris

A group of men who are said to have been drunk sparked a major rescue operation in Snowdonia at the weekend.

Shortly before 3pm yesterday (Sunday, 24 Jul), members of the Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team received a report of an intoxicated and unconscious man on Cader Idris.

The man, in his 20s and one of a party of eight, had collapsed on the mountain.

The rest of the group, who were also described as “potentially intoxicated”, left him there to raise the alarm.

Through further conversations with the party, rescuers received a rough description of the man’s location, with reports of shouting heard by other walkers coming off the mountain.

It was also discovered that another member of the group was missing on the mountain with 17 volunteers taking part in the operation to find them.

The search and rescue team said: “In unseasonably poor weather, volunteers were dispatched up the hill to begin searching the area in question, and key equipment was carried up the mountain as it arrived.

“The initial search parties quickly encountered the man reported as being unconscious, but now back on his feet, and he was escorted down off the mountain while the search for his companion continued.

“With little information to work with, and the initial searches of the most likely routes drawing a blank, the search started to open up into more remote areas of the mountain, and other assets such as search-dogs were starting to be mobilised.

“One of the search parties reported a distant light coloured object in a gully to the south of the initial search area, and spotters working from the foot of the mountain confirmed that it appeared to be a person.

“The party made their way across difficult terrain to reach the man, who was alive but had sustained significant injuries in what looked like a tumbling fall.”

The man was stabilised by the rescue team before the coastguard helicopter attended to airlift him to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further treatment.

The team said everyone was safely brought down off the hill by 8.45 p.m.