The most experienced mountaineers can even get into difficulty in winter conditions
THE IRISH phrase may be maidhm shléibhe, but avalanches are not immediately associated with the upland lexicon on this island.
“Think again now, in this current weather spell,” warns the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, which is on alert for such occurrences in the McGillycuddy Reeks.
With carpets of snow expected to last, even as the thaw sets in, hundreds of walkers and climbers are expected to be lured to higher ground.
Over the past weekend, four people had to be rescued from the Devil’s Ladder on descent from the summit of Carrauntouhil.
None of the four had ice axes or crampons, and they appeared to have walked past warning signs erected by the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team at access points to the island’s highest mountain. Some 25 team volunteers were called out in sub-zero temperatures last Saturday evening to effect the rescue.
The following morning, the volunteers participated in a winter training exercise on Coimín an gCaorach (Cummeenagearagh), a coum north-west of Cnoc Broinne (Knockbrinnea) which is to the west of Carrauntouhil. The exercise led by deputy training officer Don Murphy, aimed to revise winter mountaineering techniques.
“We tend to train in Scotland and Italy, because we don’t get the winter conditions here, so it is great to be able to do this on home ground,” Mr Murphy said. Even the most experienced mountaineers can get into difficulty in winter conditions.
On February 22nd, 1986, three experienced climbers from Cork Mountaineering Club were caught in an avalanche some 150m from the upper step of Curved Gully on Carrauntouhil, but managed to get themselves to Cummeenoughter lake.
As Gerry Christie of Kerry Mountain Rescue Team and public relations officer for Mountain Rescue Ireland recalls, the team was alerted late in the evening and an advance party administered first aid to the climbers shortly after midnight.
All three were taken by stretcher down the frozen waterfall to Cummeen Lar, from where they were evacuated at first light by helicopter.
The following day, February 23rd, 1986, the team was called out again after a walker fell to her death while descending an ice-covered northern slope of Cnoc na Toinne in the Reeks.
Descents are regarded as most hazardous. “It is possible to climb up an icy slope without technical equipment, but this is not possible coming down,” Mr Christie says, stressing that use of ice axes and crampons is imperative in this weather, along with adequate training in skills such as navigating blizzards or “white outs”.
Avalanches are a risk to everyone in such weather. “There are incremental layers of snow deeply banked up on the Kerry hills particularly in the gullies,” Mr Christie explains.
“We are anticipating there will be avalanches in the Reeks over the next few weeks.” The weekend training exercise in which Christie participated at 518m in Cumar Dubh, Cuimín na gCaorach, involved various types of belaying – as in, using a rope to provide mutual protection to secured members of a climbing party.
“One of the things people forget also is communication,” Mr Murphy said.
“Mobile phone batteries don’t last long in freezing temperatures, so they can’t be relied upon – but walkers should always make sure their phone is fully charged, and kept close to the body to conserve the battery.”
Christie emphases the key role which the Kerry farming community plays in mountain rescue team efforts.
“If there’s a live rescue that runs on late, we know these people would throw their doors open to us – including the fridge door,”he says.
“This has frequently happened. Being a member of Kerry MRT is an honour, second only to winning an all-Ireland senior football medal in these parts.”