WHAT A DAY! QMD? well maybe not in the usual sense of the word, but it turned out to be very memorable day with lots to deal with
I was the assistant leader in a group of fellow MR members under the instruction of a WML, employed by our MR team for the weekend.
We started the journey from the usual carpark at the ski station with a plan to access the plateau via Fiacalli Coire an t-Sneachda and as part of that journey go through some crampon and ice axe skills with the group.
We decided on the spur to split the group and some go to the right hand side of the Fiacaill Butress/ridge on the easier route and for me to take the rest over the apex of the ridge.
My group was just getting to the Buttress when I saw 2 climbers around the Goat Track/.5 gully take a significant fall.
My group stopped whilst I rang 999 and requested local MR. We then radioed our colleagues who were doing skills on the Moraine down in the Corrie where they then sent a hasty party with a medic and a doctor to the fallen climbers.
Upon a request from our paramedic, i then called Coastguard to request a heli. This was diverted from attending an incident on the Ben to deal with the injured climbers.
Our group stayed up on the ridge in position for two hours to act as a relay for Comms into the corrie and back to CMRT and other parties outside of the Corrie.
To keep the group warm we deployed a group shelter on the ridge.
After the evacuation of the fallen climbers by the Coastguard we topped out on the plateau where we were met with limited visibility to then navigate around to 1141 and descend via Choire Chais.
A very memorable day and as a postscript, the climbers were discharged from hospital that evening to recover at home.
Area :
The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are ‘a little piece of the arctic in Scotland’ according to the SMC Munros Guide and the area contains many of the tallest peaks in the East Highlands. Ben Macdui (1309m), Cairn Gorm (1244m) and Braeriach (1296) are probably three of the better known and the whole area is full of steep corries and high plateaux. Access to the mountains is typically from Aviemore or Braemar.
