23/09/2026
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The hills haven’t changed, but perhaps the way people are getting into trouble has.
With callout numbers rising in a number of areas, there’s been a fair bit of discussion recently from Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team and other teams about avoidable rescues, personal responsibility and how we get the right information to people before they head out. These aren’t new problems, but there does seem to be more of them.
If you follow the team, you’ll know we’re seeing some of the same things here — particularly on the Skye Trail.
We are definitely rescuing more Skye Trail walkers than we used to, and there has been a marked increase this year. Since “Whack-a-Mole Friday”, when we assisted 20 people on the Trail, we’ve been out regularly helping people on or around it, often in conditions that are difficult for walkers but not unusual for Skye.
The interesting thing is that a lot of the people we’re helping aren’t badly equipped or completely unprepared — in fact, many were already aware of our recent rescue efforts on the Trail. They’ve often done their research, have experience elsewhere and have decent kit.
What they sometimes don’t have is much experience of Scottish mountain conditions.
Skye weather can be relentless. We sometimes hear conditions described as “brutal” when, from our point of view, they may still be pretty normal conditions for Skye. That doesn’t make them easy or safe — it just means they aren’t necessarily exceptional here. And it can stay like that for hours, or even days.
Navigation comes up a lot too. Relying on one app, one device or one method doesn’t leave much room when the visibility disappears or things start going wrong.
There’s probably a wider point here about how the Skye Trail is presented online. A lot of people now find and plan it through apps, GPX files, YouTube, Reddit, blogs and social media. None of that is necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t always give a realistic feel for the ground, the remoteness, the weather or just how committing parts of the Trail can be.
CNN recently ran an article looking at a very similar issue — younger people discovering mountain routes online, and how rescue organisations can get better safety information into those same spaces. Link in the comments.
This isn’t about blaming visitors or content creators. People heading into the hills have to take responsibility for their own decisions, but if serious routes are being shared and promoted online, then the risks and the reality need to be part of that too.
Llanberis put it very simply:
“The answer cannot simply be more Mountain Rescue.”
We agree.
We’re a volunteer emergency service. We can keep sharing what we’re seeing, but getting better information to people before they set out needs a much wider effort than Mountain Rescue alone.
