A mountain rescue team leader yesterday warned walkers and climbers to ensure they were properly equipped after two rescues within two hours.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was called out to a woman who had become stuck in Coire Eoghainn when she lost her way after leaving the summit of Ben Nevis.
Team leader John Stevenson said the woman, who was in her 20s, was not wearing suitable footwear when she became cragfast in a “precarious position” on a steep slope covered in loose rocks.
He said: “She was taking photographs and apparently had not intended to go right up to the summit, but decided to go to the top because it was a nice day.
“She had wandered off the summit and managed to come down the wrong side and got onto some serious ground and couldn’t get back up.
“She was wearing what looked like cut-off Wellington boots that were not at all suitable for the terrain so I gave her a bit of a row about that.”
The woman was airlifted to safety by a helicopter from HMS Gannet, based at Prestwick, to the mountain rescue team’s base in Fort William, where she was found to be a “bit shaken” by the experience but otherwise unhurt.
Mr Stevenson said: “Anyone going into the hills should always be reasonably well equipped, especially regarding their feet because they are relying on them to get them down again.”
Earlier on Sunday at around 2pm, the team rescued another walker, who had fallen on the Carn Mor Dearg arete.
The man was flown off the mountain by an RAF Lossiemouth helicopter and taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William.
Mr Stevenson said this walker, also in his 20s and a visitor to the area, had been properly equipped, but was suffering from a leg problem and was unable to carry on.