Serinde - 5 yr old in mountain rescue

[daisymay]

A couple with a 5 yr old boy were rescued from one of the Snowdonian mountains. They were poorly equipped, in freezing conditions & in darkness by the time they were found by the Ogwen Valley Rescue team.

Rescue services alerted 17.30 pm yesterday, family had to be airlifted off, they were almost at the summit of Y Garn. That mountain is 947 metres high & in the rugged part of Snowdonia apparently; lucky they didn't slip as The Devils Kitchen is in that area & is treacherous any time let alone in the dark. Those high climbs are surely too much for a 5 year old.

[richardandtracy]

I sometimes wonder at stories like these.
Are people trying Darwinian self selection out of the gene pool?

I beggars belief really.

Regards

Richard.

[wendywombat]

I despair at the intelligence of some people! Winter is not the time to go trekking with a young child without Proper Precautions and GooD Map!!

[nannyrainbow]

Some people don't deserve to have children!! Fancy doing that to a 5 yr old.

Even if they climbed to a certain height & found they could not find a way down again it would have been better for the parents to call rescue team before light faded & before family got too high up. If people want to mountain climbing then young ones should be left behind with a responsible relative or friend, how petrified that child must have been., almost amounts to child cruelty by my way of thinking!!! rant over.

[Serinde]

We took our boys up Ben A'an (a mere 454m) when they were young (in fact, Youngest was in a pack on my back!). It was summer, we avoided the goats and we (all) had the kit needed on the day (which wasn't much). I'm not sure I'd have taken them up Dumgoyne Hill (390m) which is practically in our front yard, at that age in the winter, though, because it's more exposed than you realise. The real problem is that the weather moves in so quickly, and you can't entirely count on the weather forecasts. Inevitably you get caught out, but that's what the day pack is for, surely?

@Richard: yes, an inefficient way of getting their genes out of the pool. Like ice fishermen in April on Lake Michigan, I seem to remember... Nevermind their lives, they paid a whopping fine if they lost their truck in the lake!

PS: I should add that Youngest Son and I never reached the summit of Ben A'an. The wind was howling, and I took the decision that it wasn't safe to go around one particular corner, for fear of being blown off my feet -- as I was unbalanced due to Boy -- and the drop was, well, unpleasant...

[karen4bells]

I despair at the intelligence of some people! Winter is not the time to go trekking with a young child without Proper Precautions and GooD Map!!

I couldn't agree more!!! Let's hope that they have learned a most valuable lesson!!

[daisymay]

The family were located quicker by a smartphone app developed by one of the mountain rescue team 6 years ago.

When coastguards are contacted now they message back to download the app, that way people are found quicker I got more info on this rescue from BBC NW wales web page. Thank goodness the family did not have to stay hours longer at over 3100 feet in really gusty freezing weather.

[Allyn]

As Serinde points out, forecasts are sometimes just wrong, and sometimes they are very, very wrong. Weather can move in very quickly and take experienced folks by surprise. I wonder sometimes at all the really awesome experiences I would have missed if my parents kept me safe in a bubble all during my childhood.

[Podolyanka]

Children in such situations have no choice but to risk their lives. Is it fair? Do you consider such parents wise and caring?

[Serinde]

Seems to me there is always a balance to be struck. Sensible and age-related "risk" is good -- it teaches. For example, imagine if a young person were never allowed to cross a road by themselves until they were teenagers... better to learn with mum or dad walking to school as a child and ingrain the habit of caution as well as ability to estimate distance and speed. Small risks have small consequences and are best tackled starting when young so that when you meet a big risk with potentially big consequences, you are able to make a decision based on correct judgements of that risk. Saying that, unless you happen to be a mountaineer, I'd suggest taking a 5-yr-old into Snowdonia in the winter too big a risk for everyone, not just the child.

Would my parents have left me unsupervised at the lake at the age of 5? Of course not, but I was taught to swim. (I wasn't allowed to cross the street by myself at that age, and there were hardly any cars in those days!) Was I able to leave the house when I was a child of, say 7 or 8, and play in the neighbourhood, only returning for meals? Absolutely. Why? Partly because in the two square blocks that were the neighbourhood there must have been 35 children, ranging in age from babies to teenagers (6 in my house alone!), about 25 of whom all played together. We were never alone! But also because the adults all seemed to know who we were, so there was always a weather eye out for us all. Times have changed a lot, but parents' responsibilities to teach their children about living in the world in which they find themselves have not, I don't think.

*Serinde gets off her soapbox... again...*

[nannyrainbow]

I agree some sense of responsibility is needed in decision making as children have to grow up. A calculated risk is better than an uncalculated risk. When I said left behind with a relative or sensible friend I did not mean at the base of the climb, no one would want to sit there all day waiting for wanderers to return. I meant like my family did, with grandparents, aunts & uncles or neighbours. We did that too with our children all helped each other. We were a family of hill walkers & I remember being carried on mum or dad's back when young but when I got to about 5 until I was 7 me & my younger sister (15 months between us) used to go to grandparents or relatives if Mum, Dad & 2 older brothers wanted to take a longer walk than usual or if it was harder terrain. When I was 7, I started going on longer & slightly more difficult walks so little sis came too as she could be piggy backed when she grew tired. There was a gap of several years between me & my two brothers (4 & 6 years older than me) so they helped with little one too.

Younger sis & I loved it with grandparents so we never felt left out or that we'd missed something big. Likewise the odd time we stayed with neighbours. Then when neighbours wanted a day to do things on their own(like buying children's' Xmas gifts etc.) we had their children in with ours.

Sis & I used to like helping Nanna bake & when weather fine, helping Granddad in the garden & playing with their large but soft hearted golden retriever or taking him for usual walks. We always enjoyed our day wherever we were.