Snowdonia climber crawled two hours with broken ankle

The team were deployed for 14 hours in what was probably their longest job this year

A climber crawled for two hours on his hands and knees with a suspected broken ankle after a boulder fell on his leg.

The man, in his 60s, was on Dolmen Buttress, Glyder Fach, Snowdonia - officially known by the national park as Eryri - when the rock landed on him.

The stone, about 1m x 0.6m (3ft x 2ft), tumbled when it was dislodged by the man - who was with a friend - as he tried to ascend with a rope.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue was called out about 13:30 GMT on Saturday.

At 14 hours the rescue was one of the longest undertaken this year by the service.

Ogwen Valley's Chris Lloyd said the man was given pain relief and his foot put in a rigid plastic boot and a rope passed to him.

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He then crawled for two hours with the help of others to the summit, with the slope at an angle of between 40-45 degrees.

"He managed to hobble and scramble up on his hands and knees for 200 metres (650ft) or so," Mr Lloyd said.

Once he reached the summit he was put in a stretcher.

The climber was placed in a stretcher after crawling for two hours

His rescuers then began carrying him down the mountain.

By 02:45 on Sunday the team reached a point a helicopter could access and the man was winched aboard.

He was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd Bangor for treatment.

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