Criticism after ‘car park rescue’ of Cairngorm walker

This is one of those cases where one has to stop and think a bit. My feeling is that the mountain rescue leader involved should be 'asked' to step down from his position.
Why? Remember the oft-state preference of S&R teams:
"We would prefer to help 10 live people down than have to pick up one body bag."

What did the walker do wrong?
Arguably, he went out in bad weather. However, weather in the Cairngorms is more often bad than good. If all you know is Sierra Summer weather, you have absolutely no idea what UK weather is normally like. It is probably that the walker was hoping that it would fine up – a 50/50 chance over there.

What did he do right?
He was, according to the BBC, 'well equipped'.

When he realised that the weather was getting worse, he started down. OK, he followed a burn (a steep creek bed), but there may have been a very good reason for that. Maybe the 'blizzard conditions and 100mph winds' up top meant he could not see anything to navigate – not even any tracks. By dropping over the edge he was getting out of (some of) the wind and maybe avoiding falling over cliffs. By following a burn he could keep going in a known direction without any vision at all. He may even have known that the burn went near the ski centre.

He did not stop and call for help in the middle of nowhere (in a howling storm). Instead he kept going until 'He reached the buildings of the CairnGorm Mountain ski centre'. By doing so he could give the S&R a very precise position, which they could reach by car.

Of course, by the time he got to the building he may well have been completely knackered (exhausted) from dealing with the weather and the steep descent. So rather than keeping going until he collapsed who knows where, he stopped in a sheltered and known position and called for help. S&R could drive up, pop him in the car, and take him back to base. Dead easy stuff.

Frankly, I think the loud-mouthed S&R leader should be demoted. The walker did all the right things when the fan started rotating.

My 2c
Cheers

I disagree.
The guy made it down to the ski centre buildings, so he was not lost and he was not reported to be injured, so why did he think that he needed rescuing? He was just 400m from the car park. If he had parked lower down instead of at the ski car park, then there is a public service bus that runs every hour. Had he just missed the last bus of the day? If so he should have phoned for a taxi from Aviemore (nearby town).

MRT in the UK are somwhat unique: mountain rescue services are provided by unpaid volunteers, with airborne backup from the RAF when required. The MRT will happily drop their day job to go and rescue anyone in genuine need, but they quite rightly take a very dim view of anyone who regards them as a free taxi service. I have huge respect for them, their dedication and professionalism.

Looks like he got tired through battling deep snowdrifts – encountered by poor route choice. I guess he was trying to avoid the worst of the wind.

but, +1 to Stuarts thoughts

It gets dark there around 4pm at the moment (sunset is 3.30pm), and snow has been around for a while. He would have seen the conditions on the way up, should know the likelihood of deterioration (forecasts aren't that inaccurate) and ought to have planned accordingly.

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Cairngorm/webcams/latest

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/429748/rescued-walker-went-into-cairngorms-without-a-head-torch/

“He had excellent equipment except a head torch. His only torch was his mobile phone."

“He was not hypothermic and not hurt.”

I think that the small amount of criticism is justified.
The UK MRTs are volunteers who are mostly financed by fundraising, and N Cairngorms MRT have a massive area to cover.

“He had excellent equipment except a head torch. His only torch was his mobile phone."

If the guy had no head torch then he is a numpty.

Head of SAR is lame.

Most everyone who is rescued has made some mistake or poor decision, looking back. He sets himself up for judgement when he judges harshly. The last thing searchers want is the victim traveling and increasing the search area. Hunters in Idaho died by hiding from searchers out of embarrassment. They thought they could follow the searchers tracks out and rescue themselves. As SAR we don't need to add to that embarrassment or make our work harder or more dangerous.

About that Sierra weather- they just had 140 mile an hour winds over the ridges. This time it came with rain and a bit of snow, but sometimes it comes with feet of snow. Sometimes travel on skis in deep powder can be measured in hours per quarter mile. Shoulder season hiking can be fraught.

—

"They didn't plan well. The families, some 87 emigrants, embarked in their wagon train into the mountains too close to winter, and stalled out near Donner Lake, with snow 22 feet deep in places. Only 48 were rescued the following Spring. Survivors provided accounts of starvation and of some of the group resorting to cannibalism."

Donner Party

According to the P&J report, he called for help at 6pm, so it would have been dark for 2 hours. So, perhaps he though he was lost. He would not be able to see the ski buildings from 400m away, but if he had a head torch he would have been able to follow the funicular railway or the drag lifts that lead all the way down the hill to the ski centre base station. You really could not have a bigger handrail to follow. Numpty indeed.

I know that area very well and was very
surprised about this until I read he had no lamp.

Never been in blizzard conditions, but I know that in very dense fog at night without a head lamp you can't see anything. There is no point in even moving, you might as well be in a cave. If you are lucky you can make out the faint outline of a ridge against the horizon. Even with a headlamp, sometimes you have to stare at the ground while walking slowly so you don't lose the trail.

+1 Roger

People make mistakes.

Unless there's a trend of people abusing SAR services in that area, I think the public, official criticism will have the negative effect of deterring hikers from calling for help in borderline situations when they probably should.

If the guy called for help I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he really needed it, or at least had legitimate reasons to think it was the most responsible decision at that point.

"Head of SAR is lame."

There's a fine line between educating the public so things like this don't happen again and what's going on here.

Possibly he made some comments that he thought were going to be off the record. Sometimes I say things after 24 hours without sleep that I wouldn't say four hours post sleep. At any rate, you don't want to create an environment where people don't want to call SAR when they need it. Roger said it best, better to walk out with 10 live and slightly embarrassed subjects than one dead body. There will always be dumb calls; that's the cost of doing business.

I agree with Justin. In a blizzard, in fog, and heavy rain, a head lamp is barely of any use. Best I can do is to keep mine in the lowest red light setting and move along at a snail's pace.

Some reports say he was in touch with the team by text prior to reaching the buildings. If that's true why would he need to ring 999 when he got to the ski buildings?

I am sure that working in SAR can, at times, be a very frustrating experience. However it seems to me that the downside of publicly criticising those rescued usually outweighs any upside. But as the article says this is unusual and we don't have all the details here.

On a more general note I wonder how much we can really learn from the mainstream media reports on these events. They often describe anyone who owns a pair of boots as an experienced walker and the reports often contain inaccuracies. The FMC Bulletin, here in NZ, publishes detailed accident reports which can be both sobering and enlightening.

That story is very light on hard facts. Who knows what mitigating or damning factors are not mentioned?

But it can be just as easy to die a quarter of a mile from safety as 30 miles.

However, one simply must carry a head lamp this time of year. Did a short dayhike with a friend today and we each had one.

Reminds me of the search at Squaw Valley Ski Area in California. Woman got lost backcountry skiing. In the dark she stumbled across one of the rest rooms high on the mountain. Spent the night staying warm with the hot air hand dryer. The SAR report stated she was "warm but chapped".

A "privy bivy"!

(due credit to Skurka. I think that's his coinage)

Hey, if SAR only had to drive up to his location then there is no big deal about an expensive, time consuming search and evac.

A CAR rescue? REALLY? Much ado about nothing, and the SAR leader should have joked about it instead. Doubtless he'd have had some dry, droll Brit humor that cuts both ways.

Some SAR ops are short and easy, some are long and arduous, and most fall somewhere in between….If you are a SAR volunteer, you take them as they come, and deal with the situation. Part of the appeal of volunteer SAR is that you never know for sure what you are getting into when you respond.

This guy thought he needed help. That's all that counts. Volunteers do the helping. You can't realistically confine your services to just technical rescues, or overnight operations. If you try to do that, you will miss out entirely on too much fun.

I suppose I would have preferred to save only nubile females(preferably blonde over blue), but most victims were zit-faced young adult males. Such is life.

The rescue leader really needs to do some self examination….

The 'all the gear & no idea' comment probably references what may be a growing problem if not totally pertinent to this case with scant detail.

It's common to see on UK forums (not been here long enough to comment re USA) what seems like intelligent enough people tortured with indecision about the most basic gear choices. Forums are littered with such questions. Makes me wonder if they can't sort out something basic like what base layer to buy/wear without referring to the hive what are they going to be like when things get sticky on the hill? Phone a friend – or 999/911 in this case.

>>>>seems like intelligent enough people tortured with indecision about the most basic gear choices. Forums are littered with such questions.

IMO a fair amount of this is "Latest & Greatest Syndrome", folks just trying to see if there's some new miracle fabric or product that performs better than what they have. Makes the economy go 'round.

When it gets sketchy is when people new to the outdoors think that a miracle fabric or product is a substitute for actual experience in a variety of harsh conditions.

"When it gets sketchy is when people new to the outdoors think that a miracle fabric or product is a substitute for actual experience in a variety of harsh conditions."

That just goes to show how effective modern marketing can be. Isn't it grand?

–B.G.–

Very true Bob. Makes for a healthy 2nd hand market too!

I think newbies could easily be lead to believe knowing all about the gear is the most important thing if they come onto forums, that being the most common theme.

I've seen more advanced newbies suggest it's irresponsible to go into the wilds without a breathable waterproof. What do they think us 50 somethings did in between proofed cotton & goretex?

>>>I've seen more advanced newbies suggest it's irresponsible to go into the wilds without a breathable waterproof. What do they think us 50 somethings did in between proofed cotton & goretex?<<<

lol, I haven't thought about it for a very long time, but I suppose you're referencing Ventile?

20-something years ago I was tempted to give it a whirl (out of frustration with Goretex) but even then it was super-expensive.

Cotton, the material for Arctic gear.

> I suppose you're referencing Ventile?
More likely Japara proofed with linseed oil.
Yes, really.
You can still buy horse-riding coats like that.

Cheers

I still have my waxed coat. But I carried my first goretex in 1980 for three thousand miles. The goretex is long dead, the waxed coat will outlive me.
That SAR leader needs to find another hobby. Every SAR I've ever helped with where the caller didn't have a broken bone or was next to a road vs being lost way off trail is a blessing. The last one I was involved in the lady had two broken legs and a concussion and a broken arm and collarbone and she was five miles into the deepest canyon in our area, it took fifteen SAR and Border Patrol to get her treated, stabilized and onto a basket and wheeled out five hours later. It was a heroic effort that resulted in her living instead of dying and surviving four surgeries in the hospital afterwards. Obviously she would have been dead 24 hours later had we not found her as she had been laying in the rain for a night and a day with a wet blanket and was in deep shock. I'll take picking someone up with a car any day or night as opposed to that little adventure or finding a body instead.