 Temperatures were below freezing with patches of snow |
A 30-year-old woman has been was rescued by helicopter after she called police on her mobile phone to say she was lost in the dark on Snowdon. The woman, from York, told rescuers she had taken a wrong turning on Crib Goch.
A crew member from the Sea King based at RAF Valley said the helicopter had to hover high above the rescue site to make sure the rotors avoided the cliff.
The woman - unharmed apart from slight hypothermia - was flown to the foot of the mountain on Monday.
The RAF was called at 2000 GMT, and used lengths of over 100ft (30m) of the helicopter's cable during the rescue because of the need to stay away from the cliff face.
"Basically Crib Goch is so steep we had to keep high enough to keep the rotors clear from the cliff," said a crew member.
"The woman was around 3,200ft (975m) up so it was the only way to do it as she was locked tight onto the rock face."
Because the helicopter was just under the cloud the cold temperatures did not affect the rescue, he added.
BBC News in video and audio
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
