Most of those injured or killed come from outside Snowdonia

Every year around 10 people die and 150 are injured in the region - most of them from outside north Wales.

Sunday's Mountainsafe course, aimed at passing on navigational skills, follows an incident in which a man, 22, and a boy, 13, were airlifted to safety.

They were unharmed after becoming stranded in cloud on Crib Goch on Snowdon on Saturday afternoon.

The same RAF helicopter then airlifted a man who injured his ankle while walking above the Ogwen Valley to hospital at Bangor.

Organisers of Sunday's Mountainsafe event said it would raise public awareness of safety issues.

Course director Tim Bird said if they could make just a little difference to walkers "it will all be worthwhile".

A recent study by North Wales Police of mountain rescue incidents in Snowdonia over the past six years, found 82% of casualties came from outside the national park and Wales.

The majority came instead from the south and north west of England.

Navigational training

Men aged between 21 and 30 are the group most at risk and another element of the study showed that 60% of those who requested help from mountain rescue teams were not injured.

Sixty people are expected on the one-day course at Plas y Brenin, the National Mountain Centre in Capel Curig on Sunday.

It is being run jointly by the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association, the Snowdonia National Park Authority and North Wales Police.

Participants will spend part of the morning in the classroom before heading out into the mountains with experienced instructors for some practical navigational training.

Mr Bird, who is a mountaineering instructor himself, said: "During the training day we hope to encourage people to venture safely into the hills of Snowdonia.

"By running an initiative we are hoping to pass on some of the basic navigational skills required by walkers wanting to head into the mountains.

"Skills which can prevent them getting lost of stuck - of if they do get into difficulty, skills they could use to look after themselves and get themselves to safety."

Another Mountainsafe course is due to take place at Capel Curig in October.