#mountain rescue

These are people who at times literally risk their lives to help others for no real personal reward, often alongside full time jobs.

Dartmoor search and rescue (for example) rely solely on public donations to do their work, none of the volunteers are paid, and yet, if someone gets lost on the moors or injures themselves, the teams will go out regardless of conditions and search (sometimes for hours or even days) to try and help.

I can’t believe the UK’s 5th emergency service is volunteer-only, and donation-funded!

There was a bit of an incident yesterday!

Tony went for a hike on Cwm Silyn and on the way down turned his ankle and couldn't make his way back. I called mountain rescue and hiked up to meet him. An off duty medic heard of the incident from a neighbour and he and his girlfriend hiked up to us to check him out before rescue arrived.

The response from the volunteer Aberglaslyn MRT and their subsequent level of care was outstanding. They couldn't get the helimed or coastguard helicopter as it was a very busy day for them. So it took a team of 8 and 4 hours to get him attended to and stretchered off where we were met by another paramedic.

Due to other complications and low oxygen levels they then got him home where he could have an ECG before being taken by ambulance to hospital.

He spent the night in a wheelchair and is still in A & E having lots of X-rays and tests so we will know more later on. But he is doing ok and in good spirits.

Our neighbours came to the rescue with the puppies and driving me as far up the mountain as possible and everyone we met was so kind.

The whole drama was filmed for a BBC Series SOS Extreme Rescues... 🫣

Hamish MacInnes, the Scottish mountaineer, explorer, mountain search and rescuer, author, inventor, movie stunt co-ordinator and all round good guy, was born on July 7th 1930.

MacInnes was born in Gatehouse of Fleet, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, his father's surname was McInnes, but Hamish, according to some he "later adopted the more distinctive Scottish spelling of the family name". Hamish was the youngest child amongst five siblings. He had three sisters and a brother who was eighteen years older than Hamish.

The legend of Hamish MacInnes began early. At 16 he climbed the Matterhorn. At 17 he built his first motor car from scratch. He attempted Everest in 1953 with his friend Johnny Cunningham. As an explorer, expedition leader, and engineer he achieved world fame. author of the International Mountain Rescue Handbook and founder of Glencoe Mountain Rescue he has been responsible for saving hundreds of lives, if not thousands.

Keen to improve mountain safety, he was also a technical innovator whose invention of an all-metal ice axe and a lightweight folding stretcher for rescues – which became known as the “MacInnes stretcher” – were landmark developments that were widely used and much lauded. Author of 26 books on mountaineering topics, including fiction, Hamish became heavily involved in film and documentary work, which included making his own programmes and acting as safety and location adviser, climbing double and stunt man.

MacInnes, also known as “Fox of Glencoe” for his esteemed climbing reputation, made headlines when he was asked to shoot footage for Clint Eastwood's 1975 thriller The Eiger Sanction, other movie projects included Highlander, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Mission.

In 2014 he was misdiagnosed with dementia leading to being sectioned for over a year in psychiatric hospitals before a correct diagnosis of urinary tract infection was made, allowing him to return home, but bereft of memory. In the BBC film, The Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes. Introduced by his friend, Michael Palin, it recounts the story of MacInnes's life and achievements, and how he used archive footage, his photographs and his many books to "recover his memories and rescue himself".

Hamish MacInnes died on 22nd November 2020, aged 90, at his home in Glen Coe.