Sit-Down Walkers Taxi-ed Off Ben By Chopper

Fair comment on the sit-down ladies.

But why is the local MR leader criticising the other rescued guy for wearing tracksuit trousers and trainers? He got lost in the mist, so he may well have been unprepared and inexperienced, but would Brashers and Goretex have made any difference? Surely they should rather have pointed out the need to take adequate navigational equipment (compass, GPS, whatever) and be skilled in its use. It hardly helps avoid future incidents if inexperienced walkers reading the article assume all you need to stay safe is the right trousers.

I can only hope that the MR leader interviewed was the victim of selective quotation, because if that's honestly his best advice then it's not surprising the inexperienced remain ignorant and make dangerous mistakes.

Guess I'd better come clean and admit that I cocked up - the date on the helicopter story was July 4. Unfortunately it was July 4, 2000... Must wake up before logging on, there again, why does the BBC link its own stuff to two-year old stories...

On the subject of trousers, I guess they were trying to make the point that poor equipment and setting off at 6 pm are a bad idea and the trackies and trainers thing was intended to create a visual picture of someone not properly prepared.

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com