Mountain rescuers were needed three times within just two hours as fierce weather conditions hit the Scottish Highlands.
Two walkers had to even be manually stretchered off a mountain as the night-time dramas unfolded at Glencoe.
The first call-out, on Sunday, came at 2pm when a party of three climbers, two men and a woman, suffered a nasty fall in Coire nan Lochan.
One climber was injured and needed to be airlifted for further treatment – but that plan was scuppered by the weather conditions which meant the Coastguard Rescue helicopter couldn’t land nearby, or even get close enough to winch the climber up.
As a result, volunteers from the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team had to embark on a two-hour stretcher carry to get the climber back to roadside, where they could be transported for further treatment by ambulance.
Team leader Andy Nelson said: ‘They reported a significant fall of 50 metres and the snow saved them from further injuries.
‘It must have cushioned them. They were lucky.’
Just as the volunteers concluded that rescue, a second call came in to assist a walker who had sustained a leg injury at Coire Gabhail.
Two walkers were stretchered off a mountain after three dramatic rescue missions took place in one night at Glencoe
The first call out on Sunday came at 2pm when a party of three climbers, two men and a woman, who suffered a fall in Coire nan Lochan
Just as the volunteers had left to rescue the first group, a second call came in to assist a walker who had sustained a leg injury at Coire Gabhail
The walker was unable to bear weight on their injured leg, and with the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter again unable to help, meant a second lengthy stretcher carry was required.
A group of passing climbers offered to help the volunteers as they took the climber back down to the roadside, so they could be taken by ambulance for further treatment in hospital.
Mr Nelson said: ‘Again, due to the weather conditions, Coastguard Rescue Helicopter R85 was unable to winch the casualty, so with the assistance of a passing party of climbers, this casualty was also stretchered to the roadside. Again, another two-hour carry.’
With most of the mountain rescue team already engaged in rescue efforts, a third call came in to assist two walkers on the Pap of Glencoe.
The sole remaining available team member went out on their own to help the pair and managed to find them before guiding them back.
Mr Nelson added: ‘With the team now engaged in two lengthy stretcher carries, it was pretty unfortunate timing for a third job to come in with a request for assistance from two walkers – a man and a woman – on the Pap of Glencoe.
‘Fortunately, our one remaining available team member managed to locate and guide them back to the Glen, safe and well.’
More than 20 members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team were involved, with Mr Nelson saying ‘we were literally down to our last available person’.
With most of the mountain rescue team engaged in rescue efforts already, a third call came in to assist two walkers on the Pap of Glencoe
More than 20 members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team were involved, with Team leader Andy Nelson saying ‘we were literally down to our last available person’
In 2024, a father and his twelve-year-old son died while hillwalking in Glencoe in thundery conditions.
Tom Parry, 49, and his son Richie, 12, were hiking in the Scottish Highlands, but a search mission was launched after the pair were not seen or heard from.
A massive search for the pair was mounted involving mountain rescue teams and a coastguard helicopter, with their bodies found on May 29, 2024.
The year before, three hillwalkers were found dead after failing to return from a trip to Glencoe.
An experienced mountain guide David Fowler, 39, and two of his clients, Graham Cox, 60, and Hazel Crombie, 64, were ‘roped together’ when they fell to their deaths while trying to navigate a treacherous hillwalking ridge.
The alarm was raised just after 9.05pm on August 5, 2023, with rescuers finding their bodies in the early hours of the following day.