MCoS warning for Strath Pokémon fans
Safety experts are warning Strath gamers to stay safe if searching on wild land.
The craze for collecting virtual Pokémon characters via a phone app has delighted youngsters (and the young at heart) and mystified everyone else, as collectors track down the characters through the GPS feature in their phones.
But Heather Morning, Perthshire-based mountain safety adviser with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, warned Herald readers:“From a mountain safety perspective there are clearly a few issues here. It is not difficult to imagine a situation where a Pokémon Go gamer finds themselves lost and unable to find their way back to safety. It would be equally easy to see how someone could put themselves into danger focusing on their game rather than focusing on the ground in front of them.”
She added:“Another aspect of Pokémon Go is the game’s ability to eat your battery life.
“All the biggest battery-eating culprits are in action, and your screen is the biggest battery hog. On top of that, you will be using your camera, so that you can see the Pokémon in the real world. And to top it all off, the ever hungry GPS is a must to find the Pokémon in the first place. A classic combo for a dead phone very quickly.
“If your phone is your only tool for navigating your way out of wherever you have found yourself, then you are in for trouble.”