My brother Pat loved the mountains and none more than Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Crib Goch. He knew the mountain like the back of his hand and loved helping friends, family and strangers navigate the ridge on his frequent visits. He was with his son, Kofi, on Crib Goch late Saturday evening when the weather closed in. He fell and lost his life. Kofi managed to get off the ridge and with the help of another hiker who found him, called 999 and Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team were dispatched in force and on foot as the conditions were too bad for the helicopter. The weather was inclement with low cloud, rain and wind and the dark. A team swiftly made their way along the ridge to rescue Kofi and bring him down safely to Nant Peris. Another team located and attended to Patrick who had fallen 200m and landed on a ledge 50m up the face of the Crib Goch. His body was recovered by stretcher, a tricky operation fraught with risk. Overall the teams were out from 10pm until 6am.

I was at the Rescue Team Command Post at Nant Peris through the rescue and was in awe at the skill, dedication and organisation involved in the rescue and the support provided to me by the team and the attending police officers. As a Mountain Leader who often lead groups around Yr Wyddfa including Crib Goch, it is reassuring to know that this awesome team of volunteers are on standby to assist anyone in difficulty on the Mountain. The skill, physical and mental strength to deploy in any weather at any time of day, time and time again, often to tragedy is hard to understand until you witness it or are part of the rescue. And but for the grace of god all of us who love the mountains could be in that situation.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team is one of the busiest in the UK with an annual callout rate of over 350 incidents and rising. Based in and around the Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) area the team is made up of about 80 volunteers from all walks of life who are all experienced mountaineers. As a registered charity, we rely entirely on your donations to carry out the work we do in helping other mountain users.