An injured hillwalker was “sledged” back down a peak after mountain rescue teams were called out to aid the woman at a dry ski slope.
Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue created a makeshift sled from a stretcher to bring the walker – who had sustained a broken ankle – to safety from Caerketton Hill in the Pentlands near Edinburgh on Saturday evening.
Rapid response volunteers joked that they “moonwalked and bunny hopped” up the artificial run at Hillend using button tows normally reserved for skiers heading to the top of the course.
Incident manager Dave Wright said the team was forced to improvised after inclement conditions meant there was “zero chance” of a helicopter being able to reach the casualty.
The woman, thought to be in her 50s, was returned safely to the ground where she was transferred to a local hospital for further treatment shortly after 6pm.
“We knew there was zero chance of getting the helicopter up with the dark in and the cloud down,” Mr Wright told STV News.
“It was quite a rapid learning curve to get used to the bunny hop, we were moonwalking really at one stage.
“But the ski slope was really helpful coming down, we just allowed it to run along with a few of us acting as ballast so it didn’t shoot off.”
Mr Wright said the hiker had been wearing all of the correct equipment when she fell and had contacted rescue teams in the right manner, allowing them to pinpoint her location on difficult terrain.
“We were quite lucky that when we got there, the staff at the ski slope were still around,” he said.
“These sorts of rescues are good for the team, while we get some very serious incidents which are sometimes a bit more sinister than we would like, being able to help somebody who has been out there enjoying themselves makes the job worthwhile.”
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