Volunteer members of the Glen of Imaal Red Cross and Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Teams were called out this evening to help a group of mountaineers who had found themselves in difficulty on Lugnaquilla mountain in Co. Wicklow. The climbers had begun their ascent of a difficult gully climb shortly after 7am today, Tuesday 9th March, but ran into trouble at approximately 10am when they are reported to have 'run out of rope'.
The group initially made a phonecall to a fellow climber who brought additional equipment and rope in to the base of their climb in support of an attempt to 'self rescue'. Unfortunately this proved unsuccessful and the group realised they would need to put in a call for Mountain Rescue to attend the scene.
At the same time, five members of the Dublin Airport Authority Fire & Police services who had been hill-walking in the area in preparation for a charity event and who had been observing events unfold put made a call to the emergency services for help, in tandem with the climbers own phonecall for Mountain Rescue.
The rescue teams assembled in the Barravore carpark in the valley below and deployed a number of trained specialists onto the mountain, bringing with them the equipment needed to effect a rescue in this very difficult terrain. The climbers were finally able to make their way out of the gully and off the mountain with the rescue teams just as dusk fell.
The rescue teams would like to thank all agencies who assisted in todays successful operation
