‘Phenomenal’ Highland team hailed by walker after fall triggered treacherous rescue mission
An experienced climber who sustained injuries after a slip on an iconic Ross-shire peak has thanked the “phenomenal” volunteers who mounted a remarkable rescue mission in treacherous conditions to save her.
And now grateful friends of Elise Belcher have launched a fundraiser to express their thanks to Kintail Mountain Rescue Team, whose volunteers worked through the night to reach her in a difficult to access area on the south side of the ridge of the Five Sisters of Kintail.
The well-equipped walker, who hikes regularly with friends, had travelled to Dornie for the trek and was being tracked by a friend at the bottom of the ridge.
It was after she dropped her phone between boulders before finishing the planned route that events took a turn for the worse.
Unknown to her at the time, her friend had taken the instant decision to alert the emergency services - a gut reaction that may have helped save her life.
Deciding to try and make her way down after losing contact with her friend, she realised that the ground was too steep. It was on coming back up again that she slipped and fell, breaking her arm and hitting her head in the process.
Fortunately, she was well equipped and was able to access an emergency bag and warmer clothing, despite having to use her left hand to do so. She made use of a whistle and a torch to try and attract attention while settling in for the long haul.
She said: “I think I knew I was in for a bit of a wait. I never gave up hope.”
With a team of volunteers on the ground trying to make their way to find her and a helicopter dispatched to help in the rescue bid, she used her torch to try and attract its attention. The chopper had dropped four rescue team volunteers on higher ground in a bid to try and reach her.
She said: “I knew the helicopter had seen me. And then I began to see torches from higher ground.”
Asked what the first thing she remembered after that breakthrough moment was, she said: “One of the team said: ‘You must be Elsie!’ That made me smile because people often get my name wrong. I wasn’t going to correct him!
“And then later, as we were making our way down and other people were speaking, he said: ‘Have I got your name wrong?’
“The team were just great. We shared snacks all the way down and I was able to walk with their help. It was a long haul but we got back down at around 5.30am.”
Referring to the fundraiser set up by grateful friends, she said: “I’m just so grateful for everything that they did. Their strength and skill to do what they did in the dark is just phenomenal. They were so kind and funny. We just want to do one small thing to thank them and to help with their incredible work.”
Elise, who lives in Bristol, is half Scottish with a mum who is from Glasgow.
The justgiving fundraiser has already topped £1500 and sparked an outpouring of goodwill towards the rescue team, which relies solely on donations to carry out its work.
It can be found here.
Kintail Mountain Rescue Team reported that it had been alerted at 4.30pm on Wednesday to “a possible missing female walker who was part of a group of two experienced walkers”.
The team assembled a number of search parties who initially began to search various areas of the ridge, determined by Elise’s last known location.
Rescue Helicopter 199 from Prestwick arrived on scene and spotted her in a difficult-to-access area on the south side of the ridge.
With the helicopter unable to access her due to poor weather, team members on the hill were re-directed towards Elise, subsequently providing her with initial medical treatment for an arm and head injury sustained during the fall.
She was then assisted down the hillside to waiting team vehicles. The steep and slippy nature of the terrain, combined with the poor weather made the descent difficult and protracted, with the group all off the hill just after 6am on Thursday.
A spokesman for the team said: “This rescue is a textbook example of why mountain rescue teams exist. Due to the casualty’s injuries and location, boots on the ground were the only viable option for returning them to safety.
“We’d like to thank the crew of Rescue 199 for flying in difficult conditions and for locating the casualty. We’d also like to pay tribute to the casualty, who, with injuries sustained in a fall, was able and willing to be assisted down the hillside under their own steam. This significantly reduced the time taken for extraction.”
What is Kintail Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT)?
“KMRT is a charitable search and rescue organisation consisting entirely of unpaid volunteers. We have a typical membership of about 25 volunteers who live around the team area and have demonstrated the necessary skills and commitment.
“The team operates in the North West Highlands of Scotland and covers an area from Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast, to Loch Ness in the east. This area includes some of the most impressive and remote landscapes in Scotland, encompassing 39 Munros, including those in Glen Affric, the Five Sisters of Kintail and South Shiel Ridge. The impressive Falls of Glomach and stunning long distance cross-country long route, the Affric Kintail Way, are also in our callout area.
“The local topography, which is characterised by large areas of consistently steep ground and well-defined ridges, is of a particularly demanding nature. Even in the earliest times the team was involved in challenging work in all seasons and at all altitudes, sometimes involving avalanches.
“The team is supported financially through grant aid from the Scottish Government distributed via Scottish Mountain Rescue, and funding from other charities. This only provides a portion of the money required to pay for the team’s operation.
“In order to ensure we have the best training and equipment for the job, we continually fundraise and accept donations and sponsorship to meet our costs.”
https://www.kintailmrt.org.uk/
