Summer walking makes up most mountain rescues
- Published
Most hillwalking incidents involved slips or falls and ankle injuries
Summer hillwalking was the cause of most mountaineering-related call-outs for Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) teams last year.
Most of the casualties had slipped or fallen while walking on paths, and damaged ankles were the most common injuries.
Saturdays and Sundays were the busiest days for the teams, according to SMR's newly-published statistics.
SMR represents 24 of Scotland's 28 search and rescue organisations.
Its members include Aberdeen, Skye, Oban, Killin and Tweed Valley mountain rescue teams, three Police Scotland teams and search and rescue dog and cave rescue teams.
Lochaber, Cairngorm, Glencoe and Tayside mountain rescue teams have their own separate organisation.
Winter hillwalking represented 17% of mountaineering-related incidents
According to SMR's latest statistics, its teams responded to a total of 502 incidents last year.
Of that number, 243 were mountaineering-related while the rest involved missing person searches, people hurt while on walks in rural areas and accidents involving bicycles and horses.
Search and rescue dog team volunteers are also members of SMR
Just over 77% of mountaineering-related incidents involved summer hillwalking, with 17% involving winter hillwalking. Only 3% of incidents involved rock climbing.
More men than women - 141 compared with 132 - were caught up in incidents, and the 26-35 years old age group was the one most frequently encountered. SMR said this latter statistic may reflect the age of people who were visiting the hills most frequently.