Rescuers mounted a search in the dark for the lost pair. Photo: Aberdyfi SRT

Rescuers said a couple who got lost on a Snowdonia mountain had a lucky escape.

A search for the two walkers on Cadair Idris on Sunday led to them being found on steep ground.

Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team said the man and woman were not equipped or clothed for their walk on the 893m (2,930ft) peak.

The team was alerted about 5.30pm when the couple called for help after getting lost on the mountain.

An Aberdyfi SRT spokesperson said: “The couple, a male and female both in their 20s, were visiting the area from south Wales for the weekend.

“They had set out to climb the mountain after lunchtime but were poorly equipped for the task, with inadequate clothing and footwear, no map and no torch. Having reached the summit and begun their descent, the walkers took a wrong turn in the mist and found themselves lost as darkness fell.

“By the time they had called for help one mobile phone was already flat and the other battery was at 4 per cent power.

“A call-handler was able to make telephone contact with the walkers, and with the last of their phone battery they were able to activate the PhoneFind protocol already sent to them, and which informed the team of their exact location. Having established their position, and with further contact unlikely before the phone expired, the pair were asked to remain at that point on the hill.”

Team volunteers made their way up the mountain, but on reaching the location found no sign of the missing walkers. “Eventually a response to the rescuers’ shouts was heard, and searching through the mist and darkness the pair were eventually found around 700m from their ‘known’ location, having descended into steep and difficult ground,” the spokesperson said.

Cold, but otherwise unhurt, the pair were provided with some suitable clothing and escorted down off the mountain, with everyone safely down at the car park by 9.45pm.

Team member Graham O’Hanlon said: “The walkers had a lucky escape.

“Having left their identified position, it was only good fortune in the shape of a calm, mild evening that meant that we could still hear their shouts. With only a slight increase in the wind this would have been impossible, and with no other means of attracting our attention we could easily have missed them.

“They were not equipped for the terrain they had strayed into, nor the rain that came in as the team was exiting the mountain, and would have spent a miserable and potentially life-threatening wait as we searched the mountain.”