A RESCUE operation was launched yesterday after a climber spotted an e-mail from a friend of two hillwalkers who had become stranded on a freezing mountain range.
Peter Warren and Tom Sneddon were airlifted to safety yesterday morning after spending the night shivering in sub-zero temperatures near Ben Macdui.
The pair's friend raised the alarm by sending an e-mail to the local mountain rescue team just bef
ore 9pm on Sunday. By chance, William Anderson, the team leader, checked his e-mail inbox a few minutes later.
"It was a most unusual way to get a call-out," he said. "I checked my e-mail at 9:04pm last night and noticed I had been sent a message at one minute to nine, marked 'urgent help may be required'.
"The guy who reported them missing didn't know what to do. He was on the internet and found our website and sent us an e-mail. It was just pure luck that I happened to check. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't checked."
Mr Warren, 35, of Uddingston, and Mr Sneddon, 41, of Hamilton, had left their cars at the Cairngorms ski centre car park at 9am, and planned to reach the mountain summit before returning later that afternoon.
However, weather conditions deteriorated and a "whiteout" caused by cloud and blizzards quickly enveloped the climbers. After taking an incorrect map reading, they began walking south on to Ben Macdui.
Initially, they thought they were on Cairn Gorm, but Mr Sneddon, who had climbed the route several times before, did not recognise any features.
They tried to walk off the hill and back north towards safety but, in fading light, kept walking in the wrong direction, further south towards Glen Lui.
After several hours following a path in blizzards and in the pitch black, they came across a river but decided it was too risky to cross – and so found a sheltered spot nearby, where they spent the night in temperatures of about -8C.
They were unable to use their mobile phones so their friend, Frank Collins, raised the alarm by e-mail after Mr Warren's wife contacted him, concerned she had not heard from the pair.
Realising that the hillwalkers were potentially in serious danger due to the severe wintry conditions, Mr Anderson contacted the police and launched a full-scale rescue.
The crew of a search helicopter waited until the blizzard conditions lifted before the aircraft took off from RAF Lossie-mouth at around 3:40am.
Rescuers scoured the hillsides with night-vision goggles and the pair were discovered at about 6:30am.
Yesterday, Mr Warren spoke of his relief after their dramatic rescue in the freezing cold.
"We were heading up towards the summit of Cairn Gorm, but the weather was atrocious. We couldn't see anything. We tried to go back, but we couldn't see our tracks as they were quickly covered with snow.
"You wonder how you're going to get down, with it getting dark. We just kept going and remained determined."
The pair, who are both tradesmen, were well equipped to spend a night on the hills, having taken emergency food, extra clothes and a bivvy bag, which they put over their heads for extra warmth.
"It was absolutely freezing. We got up every two hours and walked around because it can be easy for hypothermia to set in," said Mr Warren.
Mr Anderson said they had been lucky that there was no wind, which would have sent temperatures falling further.
Warning of more snow on the wayMOTORISTS in Scotland were warned to beware icy roads today, but were assured the Arctic start to 2009 will not last long.
Temperatures were set to fall to as low as -10C last night as a blast of freezing weather continued to envelope the country.
A Met Office spokesman said: "We are looking at temperatures as low as -4C or -5C in Glasgow and Aberdeen, and as low as -10C in rural areas. There is always a chance of ice on untreated roads when it's that cold."
Some sleet and snow are forecast for parts of Scotland today but a cover of cloud is expected to slowly lift temperatures to between 3C and 7C.
Less cold air will mean the mercury will continue to rise, with temperatures of around 7C or 8C expected by Thursday.
On Sunday night, temperatures as low as -8C were recorded in northern Scotland, while they fell to -6C in some parts of England and Wales.
The weather played a part in a fatal accident in Lincolnshire, where a woman, 30, was killed as her car got stuck on a level crossing and was hit by a train.
There were problems for thousands of drivers, with the AA saying it expected to be called to more than 20,000 breakdowns by the end of the day.
The chill also prompted water company Severn Trent to appeal to its eight million customers across the Midlands and Wales to protect their homes, after reports that pipes were freezing even with the heating on full blast.
