Wednesday 29 June 2011

Cluanie has a find and Helen goes to Doncaster

At the weekend Helen joined the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team for several callouts on Snowdon. One really pleasing result was a find on lost walkers with Cluanie on Saturday evening. Three walkers phoned in to say that they were lost in very poor visibility and were on steep ground on the South side of Snowdon.
Cluanie heads out into the mist!

 Cluanie found them and lead Helen and the team into their location. Well done, Cluanie. This is her second Search dog find. Have a read about it on Grough website or bbc news wales
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-13918735

On Sunday evening after a blisteringly hot day, Helen headed across to South Yorkshire to teach three days of First Aid to De Warenne Academy in Conisborough. This was to prepare Duke of Edinburgh students for their expedition. Thankfully the weather cooled down a little for the last two days of the course.

Steve has been busy leading outdoor activities for a school group including walking up Snowdon and gorge scrambling in the Afon Ddu.

Monday 20 June 2011

Busy summer (and wet!)

Steve and I headed off up to Scotland for a week. We really picked our dates: the journey up coincided with the 'hurricane' force winds that struck Scotland. It was sad to see so many trees blown down by the winds.
We had a few days walking in Lochaber, being rained and snowed on and blown around the mountains before heading home for our next JSMTC Mountain First Aid course.

Then Cluanie and I had our helicopter training with the Search Dogs. Cluanie who is a very chilled out hound took an intense dislike to the big yellow budgie and tried to dig herself in under the seats once on board.
I try to brief Cluanie on helicopter protocol

If everything else fails, try bribery and corruption. Body Emmer entices Cluanie onboard with a toy!
Cluanie and I being winched

This last week Steve has been Assessing on Snowdonia First Aid's first Mountain Leader Assessment course. The weather yet again was not kind!

This last weekend I attended the North Wales Mountain Rescue Fatal Incidents Training Course. It is a course in how to deal with fatalities in the mountains and the police protocols. It was a very interesting course with excellent instruction by North Wales Police. It is the type of course that you hope you do not have to put into practice in a hurry.

Today Cluanie I had a glorious walk over the Carneddau while we marshalled for a charity event. The views were fantastic; the only really proper summers day we have had for a week.