Injured climber in 16-hour rescue on Skye

20 September 2022

Image source, Skye MRT
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Fifteen volunteers from Skye Mountain Rescue Team have been involved in a 16 hour-long rescue
Image source, Skye MRT
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The team was called out to the Dubh Ridge on Sunday afternoon after a climber was injured while abseiling
Image source, Skye MRT
Image caption,
A coastguard helicopter dropped members of the team off at locations as close as possible to the casualty
Image source, Skye MRT
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The rescuers carried the injured man on a stretcher over difficult terrain
Image source, Skye MRT
Image caption,
The operation was completed early on Monday morning

An injured climber was rescued in a 16 hour-long operation on the Isle of Skye.

Fifteen volunteers from Skye Mountain Rescue Team were involved in the rescue, which started late on Sunday afternoon and ended on Monday morning.

The man injured a shoulder while trying to abseil 20m (66ft) from Sgurr Dubh Beag, a summit of more than 700m (2,297ft) on the Dubh Ridge.

Misty conditions prevented a coastguard helicopter from reaching the casualty.

Instead, the helicopter dropped off groups from Skye MRT at points as close as possible to the injured man before carrying him to safety on a stretcher.

Skye MRT team leader Neil Urquhart said rescues from the ridge were always difficult due to the challenging terrain.

The long stretcher carry to Coruisk involved negotiating a band of crags with several routes down ending in drops or dead ends.

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