Cader Idris: Drunk men rescued from mountain

Seventeen volunteers helped in Sunday's rescue

A group of eight men believed to be drunk on a mountain in Snowdonia, left two of their party stranded sparking a rescue effort involving 17 volunteers.

The alarm was raised by "potentially intoxicated" men on Sunday at 15:00 BST to Cader Idris as "an intoxicated and unconscious man" needed help.

But after finding him, Aberdfyi Search and Rescue found another man had got separated from his friends, lost his way and got injured in a tumbling fall.

Everyone was rescued by 20:45 BST.

The search and rescue team said: "The man, in his 20s and one of a party of eight, had collapsed on the mountain and his party, also potentially intoxicated, had left him there to raise the alarm.

The injured man was airlifted to hospital

"Through further conversations with the party, team volunteers were able to obtain a rough description of the man's location, different from the original information but coinciding with reports of shouting heard by other walkers coming off the mountain.

"Crucially, it also transpired that another member of the party was also missing on the mountain."

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The man who was first reported as being unconscious was found back on his feet and was taken back down the mountain, near Dolgellau, while the search continued for his friend.

'Poor choices'

The rescue team drew a blank after initial searches but then a distant light coloured object was spotted in a gully to the south.

"Spotters working from the foot of the mountain confirmed that it appeared to be a person," said the search and rescue team.

"The party made their way across difficult terrain to reach the man, who was alive but had sustained significant injuries in what looked like a tumbling fall."

The summit of Cader Idris is 2,927 feet (892m), making it the 19th highest peak in Wales, but it is one of the most popular mountains in Snowdonia

The injured man was airlifted to Ysbyty Gwynedd for further assessment and treatment by a coastguard helicopter.

Team volunteer Graham O'Hanlon attended the incident. "The men were not equipped for the poor weather on the mountain, or for finding their way around it, and they made some poor choices that nearly cost at least one man his life.

"But for the light colour of the man's tracksuit, we may not have spotted him in time."

The search and rescue team said they may not have spotted the injured man in time