Moel Siabod, scene of the rescue. Photo: Vivien and Geoff Crowder CC-BY-SA-2.0

A new software system for mountain rescuers helped guide a team to a pair lost on a hillside.

The rescue was the second in the weekend to use the Sarloc method of locating walkers via their mobile phone.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation members were able to make their way straight to a pair of lost walkers, thanks to a system devised by team member Russ Hore.

Two 58-year-olds from Birmingham set off on Saturday with no map or compass, heading for Moel Siabod, just south of the National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin.

The pair, who had one torch between them, soon ran into low cloud, heavy rain and high winds. Chris Lloyd of the OVMRO said: “By 4pm, when they still hadn’t found the summit – or got anywhere near it – they telephoned 999 on their smart phone.

“When they were questioned over the phone by the team leader, a definitive description of where they might be could not be established. In fact some of the descriptions seemed contradictory.”

Ten team members went out on the hill to search probable locations of the duo, and the Sarloc system was put into action.

Mr Lloyd explained how Sarloc operates. “The MRT sends a text with hyperlink details to the casualty’s smartphone,” he said.

“They contact the hyperlink and the location of the smartphone is transmitted to the MRT.

“Don’t ask me how it works, but our team members logged the grid reference on the GPS and walked straight to the two men.”

Mr Lloyd added: “There was some urgency for this search as one man had a managed medical condition, and having been out in the poor weather for such a long time, his condition might have changed, making the search and rescue more urgent.”

Also on Saturday, Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team used the fix sent by the smartphone carried by a pair of walkers to find them on England’s highest mountain Scafell Pike.

The system enabled the rescuers to locate the couple, who were lost in bad visibility 50m (164ft) below the 978m (3,209) summit of the mountain without a major search.

The Sarloc system was devised by Mr Hore, a past chairman of OVMRO and a member for more than 20 years. It works by using smartphones’ built-in GPS receivers and an automated web page, the address of which is sent by text to the person’s phone on the hillside.

This then returns a grid reference and latitude and longitude coordinates to enable rescuers to find the casualties.