The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Exhausted pair plucked to safety from mountain
Two exhausted and freezi ng hillwalkers were plucked to safety from a life-threatening situation yesterday after spending the night in a “precarious position” in the Cairngorm Mountains.
A massive search was mounted after the twomen phonedpolice for help after becoming stuck in the Devil’s Point area, near Cairn Toul.
It became a race against time for the eight mountain rescue teams from across the Highlands, Grampian and Tayside that were involved in the operation, which was launched at 6.45pm on Monday.
Volunteers from Braemar and Cairngorm mountain rescue teams were among those involved.
Rescuers said yesterday that the walkers were found in a “precarious position” on the high plateau, suffering the effects of hypothermia and exhaustion, at 8.15am yesterday.
They were airlifted to the Mountain Rescue Centre at Braemar by a search and rescue helicopter fromRAF Lossiemouth.
Chief inspector Andrew Todd, teamleader of thePo- lice Scotland (Grampian) Mountain Rescue Team, said: “This rescue incident gave us grave cause for concern as the lives of these individuals were clearly in jeopardy. Specially-trained and experienced mountain rescue officers worked through the night with volunteers from both the Braemar and Aberdeen mountain rescue teams. We brought in support from volunteer teams in both Tayside and the Highlandsandislands, as well as search and rescue dogs and the RAF, so that we could find the hill walkers before they succumbed to cold, wet and exhaustion.”