Busy start to summer for mountain rescue team

Walkers and climbers were this week told to take care on the hills after Arran Mountain Rescue Team (AMRT) recorded a busy June.

With the busy holiday period just starting, the volunteers have already seen a big increase in call-outs this month.

It began on the very first day of June when rescuers evacuated a woman with a suspected lower leg injury from the Goatfell path. She was taken to the Arran War Memorial Hospital where she received further treatment.

On Monday June 10, the team was called out to help a male hill walker who had slipped on Cioch na h-Oighe. SARLOC – a method for locating lost climbers and walkers via text messages – was used to give a grid reference of his location and team members then made their way in both Argo Cat vehicles to the head of Coire Lan.

After approximately an hour the walker was located on some extremely steep ground below the ridge after having fallen around 25 metres on to a ledge. An AMRT member was lowered down to his location and he was then checked over and lowered down to safety in the coire below.

Although shaken and suffering some minor cuts on his hands, the man was relatively unscathed from his ordeal and was able to walk off the hill with team members.

The following week on Tuesday June 18, the team was again called out to assist a group of walkers lost in the mist on Goatfell. Both argocats were used to get team members up below the summit and after gaining a location of the lost walkers via SARLOC, team members quickly located the group on the south ridge of Goatfell and walked them off to safety. Although cold and wet, all of the group were uninjured.

The team presently has 28 volunteer members who all have a vast amount of local knowledge of the hills and mountains between them. Funded entirely by donations, grant aid and fundraising, the team, which operates out of the newly-extended base at Cladach, is on call 365 days a year.

Members also provide logistical support and assistance at a number of local events, including the Goatfell hill race and the Goatfell torchlight challenge among others.

Left, while picturesque, the mountains on Arran can present many dangers and challenges, even for experienced walkers and climbers; and above, AMRT members on Goatfell earlier this month when they helped a group of walkers who became lost in the mist. Photographs: AMRT

Above, two Argo Cats are regularly used by the AMRT to transport members, casualties and equipment to remote locations; and left, a member of the AMRT is lowered onto a steep ridge during a rescue at Cioch na h-Oighe.