The injured man is stretchered from Graig y Bwlch. Photo: Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team

Rescuers from a Snowdonia team were called out three times recently as good weather tempted people onto the hills.

Members of Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team were alerted shortly before 1pm on Friday when a man was reported injured on Graig y Bwlch near Dinas Mawddwy.

The man, in his 60s, had spent the early part of the morning photographing aircraft flying the ‘Mach Loop’. While descending the crag to return to his car, he slipped on the steep ground and injured his left ankle.

Unable to bear weight on the injured limb, he called for help. Team volunteers made their way from Bwlch Oerddrws car park to the injured walker’s location with stretcher and medical equipment. He was assessed and the limb splinted before he was loaded onto a stretcher to be taken back down the mountain.

Shortly before 9pm that day, the team was made aware of a lost walker on Hen Gerrig between Lake Vyrnwy and Llandymawddy.

The man in his 20s had started out from Lake Vyrnwy in the morning, intending to walk a planned route. During the day he became disorientated, and strayed well away from any notable footpaths or his intended route. Having recognised his predicament, he called for help.

Team volunteers made their way as far as possible up into the forestry in a team vehicle before continuing on foot to the walker’s location. He was medically assessed and provided with food and water before being escorted back down to the team vehicle. The man was transported back to the main road and met by family members.

The rescue ended at 2.30am on Saturday.

About 7.30pm that day, the team was alerted to a missing walker on Cadair Idris.

The man, who was with a group on the mountain, had been suffering the effects of heat through the day, and at one point was reported to have become unresponsive. The team said he had apparently recovered enough to attempt to walk off the mountain alone down the Minffordd path while one of the others from the group returned to their car, parked elsewhere, and planned to meet him at the Minffordd car park.

But when the friend arrived at Minffordd, the casualty was not there. The friend backtracked up the mountain as far as the place where the man had last been seen but still did not encounter the walker, and at this point a request for help was made to North Wales Police.

As team members were making their way to the incident, news came through that the man had been located, and that no further help was needed.

Team volunteer Graham O’Hanlon said: “It has been a busy weekend for many of the North Wales mountain rescue teams.

“The good weather in some ways reduces the number of people getting lost, but at the same time increases the number of people taking to the hills, and therefore exposed to the probability of trips and slips. The heat can also impair good decision making, and ultimately become a serious health issue in its own right.

“Like poor weather, extreme heat might be a good reason to leave the mountains for another day, and look for some of those shady forest walks instead.