'Badly equipped' walkers rescued

A party of experienced walkers gave the pair spare clothing

Two poorly-equipped walkers were said to be lucky to be alive after being rescued from Snowdon.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue team said the pair's actions read like a "catalogue of what not to do".

They set off to climb the peak, with only three hours of daylight left and with a bad weather forecast before becoming stuck on Crib Goch.

The two men, from Wrexham, who reached safety at 0200 GMT, had no map or mobile phone and were wearing trainers.

They had set off at 1345 GMT on Saturday from Pen y Pass, along a path to the narrow ridge, then became stuck near its summit.

One of the men in their 20s, whose only previous experience was rambles in the Clwydian Hills, was dressed in a lightweight waterproof jacket, the other just in a fleece.

They had no compass, torch, whistle, or spare clothing.

Luckily, at 1530 GMT, a party of three experienced hill walkers from Surrey, who were carrying kit including ropes and belay - or anchoring - equipment, came across them.

Torrential rain

They gave them spare clothing and started to help them down.

But by 2100 GMT, they reached a difficult and steep section, still above 2,000ft (609m).

By then the group had only two working torches and the weather worsened, with gusts of more than 60mph, torrential rain and visibility less than 10 yards in cloud.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue team were called out and a team of 15 reached the group. Belays were set up so they could be lowered, one at a time, down the steep section.

The two men were cold but uninjured when they reached safety.

Gwyn Roberts, a spokesman for Llanberis Mountain Rescue, said: "It was a catalogue of what you mustn't do - they were extremely lucky.

"Had that group not come across them by pure chance, and they had struggled on their own in the dark or spent the night there, they would have been in a very serious condition."

Mr Roberts added: "We have a check-list and I don't think there was anything we ticked off that they had with them. They were completely out of their depth."

The rescue team said in winter it was even more crucial to take note of weather forecasts and reported ground conditions.

Park wardens at Pen y Pass are able to provide advice, while planning, preparation and an early start were essential.