A young couple who got stuck on one of Britain’s highest peaks were mistaken for bleating mountain goats before a fellow hiker realised they were people shouting for help.
The pair managed to get stranded on a steep 100ft cliff edge late on Monday night on Snowdonia, before their ‘very lucky escape’.
Their attempts to attract the attention of a nearby walker left the man initially wondering whether he was hearing animals or humans.
But after he shouted back, he realised that the couple, both 20, were in desperate need of help and a full-scale rescue operation was launched.
They were eventually brought to safety in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The six-hour rescue was launched at cliffs behind the towering Cwm Idwal mountain .
A team of 18 rescuers eventually reached the couple, though a Coastguard helicopter was unable to help them.
A spokesman for the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team said they were alerted by police just after 7pm that a man had heard shouts from high up on the cliffs of the back wall.
The spokesman said: ‘He (the walker) had shouted back so as to confirm that the shouts were human and not, as frequently reported, bleats from goats.
‘The team leader contacted the informant, but he was in an area of very poor telephone reception.’
After realising the full complexity of the crag rescue, a team of five had to call for back up, the spokesman explained.
A full team call out was made, with 13 additional rescuers from the RAF Valley Mountain Rescue Team deployed to help the couple, who had travelled 60 miles from Chester for the mountain walk.
The spokesman continued: ‘The coastguard helicopter was requested but was unable to assist.
‘Often, in these rescues, there is the high risk of the rotor downwash, blowing the casualties from the rock face before they can be rescued.’
He added: ‘By shortly after midnight, the main rescue party had scrambled to the top of the cliff, established a secure rope system and lowered two rescuers down to the two casualties.
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‘The casualties were then fitted with harnesses and attached to the rescuers and the rope systems, then lowered to safe ground below by about 1am.
‘Ogwen team members arrived at their base at about 3am, the RAF MRT probably after 4am.
‘Meanwhile, the two 20-year-olds drove back to Chester to review their very lucky escape and to consider the purchase of more suitable kit for walking on the mountains and the skills required.’
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