Three people had to be rescued from Ben Nevis last night after they underestimated the time and effort involved in climbing Britain’s highest mountain.
The group of men, believed to be in their 40s, set off to climb the 4,409ft peak at around 8am and realised they needed help when they were only about half way down more than 14 hours later.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team leader John Stevenson said they received a call for assistance from the group at around 10.30pm.
He said: “They weren’t injured, but one of them had an old illness, which meant he became very tired and the trip took longer than they had expected so they thought it was safer and quicker to get help.
“We were speaking to them on the phone so we knew exactly where they were. They were just above half way so we decided it was quicker to drive up to them on all terrain vehicles than to call out a helicopter.”
He said a couple of members of the mountain rescue team picked them up and they arrived back at the team’s base at around 1am today.
Mr Stevenson said: “The man who had been unwell did not need any medical treatment. They were very tired, but otherwise fine.
“We gave them soup and chocolate biscuits and they went on their way admitting that they had underestimated their adventure.”
He added that the men had not been local to the Highlands.