Cragfast climbers rescued in darkness

Two freezing climbers were rescued in darkness in the Cairngorms at the weekend after getting stuck on a mountain.

The pair, who had no rope, were cragfast 100ft from the top of a well-known 600ft climbing route for around five hours.

The men, in their forties and from England, were eventually rescued by Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team with the help of the Inverness-based coastguard search and rescue helicopter.

They were climbing Jacob’s Ladder at Coire an t’Sneachda on Saturday when they became stuck in a narrow section.

“Because they did not have a rope they had no means of getting off,” said Willie Anderson, leader of Cairngorm MRT.

“The two climbers were soloing – climbing without ropes – Jacob’s Ladder, a grade 1 winter climb. Unfortunately, in thin conditions like now, the route is more like grade 3, so the guys found themselves cragfast.

“They were in the narrowest section about 100ft from the top but they just could not move. They had climbed the ladder before and in normal winter conditions climbing without ropes is fine but in the current conditions they would have been better prepared with having a rope.

“The two cragfast climbers were experienced but they were very cold when we got to them.”

The coastguard rescue helicopter then took them to the Cairngorm Mountain ski centre.