Three climbers who became stranded on a crag high up on Ben Nevis in terrible weather conditions have been found safe and well.
The two men and a woman – who are all doctors – had to spend the night on Britain’s highest mountain after attempting one of its most difficult climbs.
They were pulled to safety by members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, LMRT, who had to carry all their equipment up Ben Nevis on foot in a “difficult technical rescue” as the weather was too bad for a helicopter to assist them.
The climbers were attempting to complete the Long Climb on the Orion Face of the Ben when torrential rain and low cloud forced them to call for help.
LMRT member, John Macrae, said: “We had quite limited resources for this rescue. We have a pool of 40, but only 10 were available for this one. We also didn’t have any helicopter assistance because of the weather, so everything was undertaken on foot.
“The three climbers set off a bit late on Wednesday, around 11am, but the weather was very good then.
“But they underestimated how difficult this climb is, so it was 11pm when they reached the crag.
“They called us then just to ask for some advice and decided to spend the night where they were.
“But around 2am on Thursday morning the weather changed and it became very wet, so they realised it was beyond their means to make it any further on their own.”
Conditions on the mountain became very poor as the day went on with heavy rain and low visibility.
After receiving another call from the climbers, the rescue team – the busiest in the UK – set off up the mountainside around 4.30pm carrying their equipment.
Mr Macrae added: “We had five members at the bottom and five at the top, but we found them after two hours which was quite quick.
“We carry our own system of pulleys and a hoist and lowered one of the team over the crag to reach the climbers.
“They were about 650 feet below the top of the route, so it was easier to pull them up than lower them down.
“Apart from being soaking wet, they were all safe and well, so we all walked down the path on the mountain and arrived back at our base around 9pm.”
The Long Climb on the Ben is the longest in the UK and is described as being Alpine in scale.
Mr Macrae said: “It is a classic long climb and you have to be an experienced climber to tackle it.”