Rescuers with the injured man. Photo: OVMRO

Rescuers in Eryri-Snowdonia had to scrap a 100m rope and other gear that were damaged during a mammoth rescue of an injured man lasting more than 14 hours.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was alerted on Saturday to two men in their early 60s tackling the grade-three scramble on Dolmen Buttress on the main cliff of Glyder Fach.

A call was made about 1.30pm after the second climber dislodged a large rock which fell onto the ledge on which he was standing. Chris Lloyd of the rescue team said: “It glanced his lower leg, briefly trapping the leg against the rock face and fracturing one or more bones.”

Four team members, who were scrambling on Tryfan’s East Face, made their way to Glyder Fach. “With lowering cloud beginning to cover the summit plateau, they searched for the casualty party below them,” Mr Lloyd said. “A couple of team members scrambled down the steep and loose gully, with one member continuing down the upper reaches of the rock climb to reach the casualty.”

The rescuers requested the help of the Caernarfon Coastguard helicopter to airlift team members onto the mountain below the cloudbase, but the aircraft was diverted to a marine incident.

Mr Lloyd said: “A 12-strong rescue party was deployed on foot, climbing up to the summit plateau at dusk, in freezing fog and with a bitter light breeze. Shortly after 6pm the advanced casualty carers made their way to the casualty while others set up a 250m-long rope ‘handrail’ up the gully.

“Another small party was deployed with additional flasks of hot drink and snack bars, scouting for a descent route for the forthcoming stretcher carry.

“The casualty was treated and his ankle placed in a rigid boot splint. Realising the complexity of a stretcher raise from his location, he volunteered to hobble and even crawl on his hands and knees up the steep, loose gully, while protected with a safety rope – a heroic effort.”

The lead climber was escorted over the verglas-covered rocks from the summit plateau to below the freezing fog and into Cwm Tryfan and then down the team’s base, 12 hours after the original call for help. Two OVMRO members from the original four also made their way to the headquarters for warm drinks and food.

Mr Lloyd said: “Further MRT members were deployed from the south side of Glyder Fach to assist with the stretcher carry. The carry was aided by the use of the all-terrain wheel, which fits under the stretcher.

“The helicopter was made available in the early hours and was able to fly up to hover beneath the cloud base to await the arrival of the stretcher party. By 2.45am, the casualty was winched on board and was being flown to hospital, greatly easing the last 500m down the path to the three waiting mountain rescue Land Rovers.”

The incident ended at 4am. A small group of team members undertook a tidy up of kit at midday on Sunday to prepare for the next callout, at which point it was realised the rope and other soft kit would need to be retired from use.