of the time it takes for your messengers to reach a phone, the team callout and assembly time, and the time required for the team to walk to your location with heavy equipment. You may decide that if there is a danger of hypothermia it is best to evacuate most of the party and leave a small group remaining with the casualty. You may also decide that it is necessary to move the casualty to a more sheltered or safer location (if so, ensure that someone will be on hand to guide the Team to your new location).
Consider how group members or passers by can best be deployed, and how the equipment carried by the group can best be redistributed and utilised.
Consider ‘alternative’ uses for the equipment you are carrying, for example camera flashes can be used to attract attention in the dark, a rope laid out along the ground will maximise your chances of being located in poor visibility, and a survival bag can be used for attracting attention.
The standard distress signal is six sharp whistle blasts (or torch flashes) followed by a one minute silence, repeated.
Don’t lose touch with common sense when coming to any decisions!
Pen y Gadair from Cyfrwy (Walk 36)
Before you start
What to wear
Someone once said: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, just inadequate clothing.’ Well, as everyone knows, there is such a thing as bad weather, sometimes so bad that no amount of clothing will prove adequate. But the anonymous optimist makes a fair point, and, unless you aspire to being no more than a fair weather walker, then going adequately and suitably clothed facilitates walking regardless of all but the most severe weather conditions. Regular walkers will talk at length (usually in a bar), about days spent in the hills battling wind and rain; it’s a circumstance that breeds its own delightful perversity, a dash of self-esteem at having coped safely with a bad weather day, an exhilaration that is often breathtaking in more ways than one. Let’s face it, if you have to wait for the sun to shine before venturing out, you may never begin.
Being adequately clothed makes all the difference, and well-equipped walkers, enveloped in wind- and waterproof garments, have little to fear from a moderately inclement day.
So, what to wear?
This question can be answered only in general terms for the simple reason that each of us is physically different, we have different metabolisms, our bodies function in different ways when exercising, and the way, and amount, we perspire varies, too. All these factors generate bodily conditions that are specific to each of us and which require individual solutions.
To complicate things even further, there are numerous clothing and equipment manufacturers clamouring to sell you their own brand, but without the certainty that one brand is any more suitable for you than another. It is purely a process of trial and error, often over a period of time, sometimes years. But eventually, you find a combination that works best for you. When you do, stick with it. Just as important, when you settle on the type of clothing that suits you and decide to kit yourself out, go for the best you can afford. Quality really does count when it comes to outdoor clothing.
What to carry
So, what is considered essential? It is not intended that this list should be slavishly followed in every detail by every person in a group, but is suggested as a guide or checklist. Small groups may manage without some items, but if the group is such that it may become fragmented, then it pays to have the key items throughout the group.
Map – everyone should carry a map for the area of the walk, and know how to read it.
Compass – much the same; map and compass are essential.
Whistle – every individual should carry a whistle; it is vital as a means of communication in the event of an emergency. There are numerous, inexpensive mountain and survival whistles available, but any whistle will do.
Torch – you may not intend to be out after dark, but a torch will prove useful if you are. Make sure that every individual carries their own torch, even if there are only two of you. There are many suitable pocket torches on the market, and be sure to carry spare batteries, too. A torch is also useful for signalling in an emergency.
First aid kit – there is nothing worse than a developing blister, or a bad scratch from a bramble. Even the smallest of first aid kits contain plasters or skin compounds like Dr Scholl’s® Moleskin, or Compeed® Blister Packs that can ease the irritation. The kit does not need to be huge, but should include a good cross-section of contemporary first aid products, including ointments and creams suitable for easing insect stings and bites. Today’s outdoor market offers plastic first aid ‘bottle’ kits containing everything you are likely to need for minor emergencies.
Food – it is important to carry day rations sufficient both for the walk you are planning to follow and for emergencies. Every rucksack should contain some emergency foods, like Kendal Mint Cake, chocolate bars or glucose tablets, that remain forever in your pack – although it is a good idea to replenish them at regular intervals.
Drink – liquids are vital, especially in hot conditions, and in winter a stainless steel Thermos of hot drink goes down a treat. Cold liquids can be carried in water bottles or a pliable water container with a plastic suction tube that can be led from your rucksack over your shoulder.
Spare clothing – there is no need to duplicate everything you wear or would normally carry, but some extras kept permanently in your rucksack will prove beneficial – T-shirt, sweater, scarf, spare socks (to double as gloves, if necessary), spare laces
Other bits and pieces – strong string (can double as emergency laces), small towel (for drying post-paddling feet during summer months), notebook, pencil, pocket knife and a thermal blanket or survival bag for emergencies. With luck you will never use it, but half a roll of toilet tissue in a sealable plastic bag can ease many an embarrassing moment.
Cwm Eigiau from Craig yr Ysfa (Walk 15)
RECREATION AND THE MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT
[Reproduced with the consent of the Countryside Council for Wales. More information about the need to protect the mountains of Snowdonia, and how that can be achieved, is available from the Council.]
Carnedd Ugain (Crib y Ddysgl) in winter (Walk 1)
Mountains have withstood the rigours of millions of years of geological processes – including mountain building, erosion and glaciation, but, paradoxically, their environments are fragile and very special. Their fragility comes from the harsh climate and landforms which affect the way in which plants and animals can survive there. And they are special because mountains are one of the least human impacted environments. The mountains of Britain support a number of rare species of plants and animals. The effects of ice during the last glacial advance are responsible somewhat for the botanical wealth, producing steep, north facing rocks which provide a suitable habitat for relict arctic–alpine plants which need the cool conditions and freedom from competition from more aggressive grassland species. They also provide a refuge from the attentions of sheep, which manage to graze vegetation in most places in the British uplands, except steep rock faces and fenced enclosures. It is no accident that the best sites
