Walkers wearing trainers with 'no winter kit' rescued off Ben Nevis
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Walkers wearing trainers near the top of Ben Nevis in some of the most extreme weather of the winter have been rescued off the peak.
Mountain rescuers said the group of four walkers were lucky to be alive after enduring fierce winds and blizzard conditions near the summit of the mountain.
They had no winter kit with them, according to Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team – “no ice axes, no crampons and as far as we are aware no maps. Three of the guys were in trainers! They were about 150 metres down into Coire Eoghainn on steep ice and if they had slipped or gone down any further consequences could have been far more serious.”
Twenty-two members of the team were involved in the search for the walkers on Monday night. The first walker was found near the summit before the other three were located a short time later.
Rescue 151 helicopter was involved in the search and airlifted the group from the Halfway Lochan to Belford Hospital in Fort William.
Rescuers explained that the What Three Words app had taken the team to within metres of the group's location, despite the wild conditions and a wind chill factor of around -20C.
But they added in a Facebook post: “Extremely lucky people. Could have so easily ended up so different.”
