Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation members will take a dip in their nearest lake

Mountain rescuers will take a dip in a Snowdonia lake – to help keep their gear dry.

Members of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation plan to swim across Llyn Ogwen on New Year’s Day, to help raise funds for an industrial-strength dehumidifier to dry out their gear after rescues.

The volunteer team is kept busy rescuing walkers and climbers on Tryfan, the Carneddau and the Glyderau, plus surrounding mountains.

So far team members have responded to 135 calls for help this year.

A team spokesperson said: “Some of these have required the team to be involved for several consecutive days.

“This level of response means that there is often very little time to dry equipment and prepare it in readiness for the next callout.

“The team needs to raise £1,500 to fund the purchase of an industrial dehumidifier to dry their equipment after it has been used on a rescue callout.”

Llyn Ogwen lies 300m (984ft) up in the Ogwen Valley, not far from the team’s base, and overlooked by Tryfan, the Glyderau and Pen yr Ole Wen.

The 50-member team is a registered charity and, like almost all UK mountain rescue teams, almost entirely dependent on voluntary donations.

Anyone who wants to support the sponsored swim is asked to donate via the donations page on the team’s website.