Mount Snowdon’s volunteer mountain rescue team are having an exceptionally busy summer with 103 call-outs so far this year. The team expect the number of incidents they respond to in 2012 to exceed last year’s 183 call-outs. Climbers and hikers who are ill-prepared for the cold, wet and sometimes foggy conditions on the mountain this summer have increased the number of incidents.
‘They turn up at the bottom wearing the same stuff as if they were going to Blackpool or Alton Towers,’ said Park Warden Gruff Owen. ‘I've seen people in pyjamas hundreds of times. I've seen people dressed in superhero outfits or dressed up in skintight Morph suits. And we've had emails from people asking if they can walk up Snowdon in a mankini.’
In a trial aiming to improve safety, the Mountainsafe Partnership, which includes the Llanberis rescue team, has attached tags to stiles and gates giving grid reference points. They hope this will help walkers find their location on a map, and avoid getting lost.
‘We don't want to be negative and put people off, we just want to make sure when they go out on Snowdon they are properly equipped,’ said Owen.
