Criticism after ‘car park rescue’ of Cairngorm walker

I think the bottom line is that people are always encouraged to be safe rather than sorry.

If this man was freaked out enough to call for help, it means he was in a state of mind to start making wrong choices.

Being "well equipped" means nothing in a case like that. "Well equipped" people have died here in the Northwest by losing their focus and wandering around instead of simply putting up the tent they brought (Starks Mt. Rainier 2005).

The article doesn't really explain much about the geography involved but having been slammed by a blizzard alone in the Three Sisters in 2010, I know that 1200 feet may as well be 1200 miles under the wrong conditions.

This guy did the right thing. He recognized that he wasn't master of whatever his situation was and called for help rather that try to see if he can just make it over the next…

"This guy thought he needed help. That's all that counts."

Yes, as long as he believed he needed to be rescued, that is what counts. As long as he wasn't calling because he was thirsty and just wanted a bottle of water then that is what he should do. Calling him out for it just puts others at risk as they may now delay calling until they are in dire need of rescue. It appears that all of those here who participate in SAR operations would prefer a call earlier rather than later.

> It appears that all of those here who participate in SAR operations would prefer a
> call earlier rather than later.
Funny about that.

Cheers

Interesting discussion here, a little closer to the site of the incident:

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48150&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45

And one of my favorite posts, on page 4 at the bottom:

…….."Back in my young days when I was doing my hill apprenticeship , it was considered very low indeed to rely on a mountain rescue team; they were only to be called on if you were on the brink of death, your leg was hanging off by a string or your guts were wrapped around an irate stag's antlers. Even then it was the done thing to at least crawl a couple of miles, leaving a good trail of blood in the snow, in order to show that you had at least tried. This was not necessarily out of respect for the MRT, but because they were often seen as rank amateurs and a chap was considered a complete pansy if he ever needed them, even if his leg was hanging off by a string, etc."………..

Makes me think of our plans in the Daks and Whites, back in the days before cellphones, GPS and PLB, which was of course self-rescue or, as a very last resort, sending out a couple of guys to summon outside assistance. Our Number One Priority was to NEVER do something so stupid as to deserve a write-up in the Accidents section of Appalachia Bulletin, which in itself prevented a lot of hare-brained decisions.

Best reply of that thread! It's a mind-set I'm familiar with as is the attitude of some teams, although my experience is ancient history now! Many years ago my friend broke his leg xc skiing. I skied on ahead to get the car & bring it closer & he hobbled out as best he could until I came back. The local MRT team were out on practice & we passed their control van on the way down. We'd met them at a charity event a few months earlier & weren't impressed so no way were we going to be rescued by them! I've since met the team (different folk no doubt) many years later at another event & they were a great bunch of lads & lasses.

I've had xc ski lessons from a member (probably ex-member now) of the Cairngorms team in question – hard as nails & I've nowt but respect for that team & the workload & conditions they have to deal with.

Any SAR where the body can go home to family smiling is a good SAR.

Any SAR where you have to search thither and yon through brush and pine needles, and return the body home in a bag, is just a recovery. Any SAR where there's no body anywhere we look is an open case….