After a busy week for the Moffat Mountain Rescue Team who have been assisting Dumfries and Galloway Council and D&G Police Division the team with local snow issues, the team had received a further two major rescue calls for help on Sunday the 21st of January.
In the first incident A 64 year old male who lived in a remote location near Eskdalemuir had been cut off with no power by snowdrifts for the last 7 days. He decided to walk out from his house to the nearest village. After trying one route he was stopped by huge snowdrifts so tried an alternative track. Eventually after trying to walk through deep snow for more than 4 hours he was forced to call for help.
The team arrived just after dark and attempted to drive towards where we believed the man to be. The team had to abandon their vehicle and proceed on foot. Eventually after battling through drifts for 2 hours two team members managed to reach the man.
Further team members followed on and started to trample a path through the snow to assist the man to our team landrover. Once there he was evacuated to the roadside where the Police took over and transported him to Lockerbie.
20 team members turned out to assist with the evacuation. Although they were not all needed in the end, if the gentleman had not been where he was expected if could have turned into a protracted search.
Shaun Duignan, team leader said, “This has been a busy week for the team with many team members working through the night help stranded drivers and then a rescue closer to the expected role of a mountain rescue team, rescuing someone from a remote inaccessible location. The team is pleased to have been able to assist the people of Dumfries and Galloway”.
Hot on the heels ofSunday Afternoons callout the team were called by Police Scotland at 00:10 on 22 January 2018 to search for two missing walkers on the Southern Upland Way.
The walkers had set off from the Tibbie Shiels Inn in the morning with the intention of walking to Moffat along the Southern Upland Way. They did not return home and were reported missing by their family.
Moffat and Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Teams were both called out and worked together with Police Scotland officers to search the Southern Upland Way from both ends.
15 members of Moffat Team and 8 members from Tweed Valley battled atrocious conditions with low cloud, deep snow drifts and and an increasing avalanche risk. Progress was very slow and some of the teams needed skis to make progress on the ground.
A coastguard helicopter joined the incident and search dogs were on their way from further North in Scotland and the Lake District.
Finally at 05:30 in the morning members, of Tweed Valley MRT located the pair tired but otherwise unharmed. Unfortunately the poor weather meant the helicopter was unable to assist in the evacuation and ground teams are presently evacuating the missing walkers from the hill.
Deputy Team Leader of Moffat Mountain Rescue Team, James Coles said “The walkers were well equipped and prepared for their day on the hill but the conditions seemed to be much worse than they might have expected. Both teams are tired but extremely pleased that the missing walkers have been found safe and sound”.
