Snowdon rescuers use phone to find walker

Mountain rescuers are resourceful, with a battery of equipment and techniques to find and help those of us in need on the fells.A Welsh team has probably just added a new method to the manual.

Mountain weather service will continue

It looks as though the storm over the future the respected Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) has blown over.Both the voluntary-run MWIS and the official Met Office mountain-weather service will continue, following a meeting of the two organisations with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland (MCofS) last Friday.There had been fears that Geoff Monk’s MWIS would cease providing its current forecasts if the Met Office stepped in.

Problems for climbers on Eagle Tor

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is warning climbers of access difficulties on a Peak crag.The owners of Eagle Tor, near Birchover in Derbyshire, have expressed concerns about the safety of their children playing in the area of the crag while climbers are on the rock.They also say human excrement and other litter have been found in the area.

Cave death inquest will be held next year

An inquest will be held next year into the death of a schoolboy in a caving incident.North Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service decided no charges would be brought after 14-year-old Joseph Lister died in Manchester Hole in Upper Nidderdale.The teenager, a student at Tadcaster Grammar School, was in a party from the Bewerley Park Centre, run by North Yorkshire County Council.

Climbers safe after Nevis rescue

Two Dutch climbers are safe after being rescued from Ben Nevis.Fifteen members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team mounted an eight-hour operation to rescue the pair, who became cragfast on Castle Gully.An RAF helicopter from HMS Gannet was also involved in the rescue of the men, aged 19 and 27.

New avalanche blogs chart Scots snow

Scottish winter mountaineers can look forward to a Hogmanay of fresh snow as heavy falls are forecast for the various regions.The Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) has introduced new blogs for the Cairngorms and Lochaber, giving up-to-date reports for those venturing on to the mountains.Latest information from the Northern Cairngorms blog has heavy snow falling at midday today, with a rutsch block test in half a metre of fresh windslab.

Scottish mountain marathon dates announced

This year’s Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon (LAMM) will take place on the weekend of 9-10 June.The 2006 event took place in Assynt, in the far North-West of Scotland.

Bus magnate ?wants more protection than Queen?

Stagecoach millionaires Ann Gloag is demanding more privacy than the Queen, a court heard.Ramblers’ Association (RA) director Dave Morris told Perth Sheriff Court that the bus magnate’s attempts to stop walkers using her land meant she was asking for more protection than the Royal Family on its Balmoral estate.He said most parts of the Royal estate were open to walkers.

Girl survives 500ft Glencoe fall

A ten-year-old girl survived a 500ft fall in Glencoe yesterday.Mountain rescuers said if she had been an adult, she would probably have died, but the fact she was small and supple saved her life.The girl plunged down a steep, grassy slope while descending Meall Mor, near Glencoe village.