With mountain rescue so prominent in much of the mainstream news media following this weekend’s incidents, there’s a timely insight into the work of one branch of our rescue services on the BBC website.

A year ago, an RAF search-and-rescue crew was forced to leave its winchman on the side of a mountain in a blizzard, as weather conditions suddenly worsened.

The aircraft crew then had to make a forced landing themselves as ice suddenly caused rotor-blade problems and the helicopter risked falling from the sky.

The story by, Steven McKenzie, of Sea King XZ593’s mission to rescue a climber that itself became subject of a rescue, gives an insight into the world of the crews we hope we will never need to rely on and the horrific conditions they sometimes have to work in.

The drama unfolded in the Coire an-t Sneachda, notorious now for the four deaths at the end of last year.

You can read the story on the Highlands and Islands section of the BBC News website.