Our dental editor, Chris Townsend, explores high rescue ropes with Assynt Mountain Rescue and Stac Pollaidh with Helly Hansen.
outdoor company press trips can vary from fun to mundane, depending on how much time is spent in the mountains and indoor product promotion and factory visits. For Helli Hansen, this definitely falls into the exciting category, and it’s fun and informative because it’s not just about gear, it’s not about gear. Instead, “the aim is to raise awareness of the fantastic work done by mountain rescue teams in the UK to keep everyone safe in the mountains and enjoying the great outdoors.” To that end, we invited myself and another outdoor writer to spend a day in the NW Highlands with members of Assynt Mountain Rescue, one of the five mountain rescue groups sponsored by Helli Hansen, and learn a little about their work.
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Main photo: Assynt Mountain Rescue © Ed Smith and Chris Townsend provided by Helly Hansen
We met the Assynt Mountain Rescue team at the foot of Stac Pollaidh, only a small hill (612 meters high) but a long narrow slope with great heights and cliffs. Here we find ourselves having to take a stretcher up the mountain and quickly learn how tiring it is – writer, mountain rescuer and PR team member Helli Hansen is on the job.
It’s hard work, even on a fairly smooth road. As the terrain becomes steeper and steeper, it becomes more difficult to maintain your footing and level stretcher. Fortunately, nothing seems to be missing from time to time. It still hurt a lot because it was full of mountain rescue equipment.
The weather was almost perfect, with high clouds, sunshine and a cool breeze at times. The latter means that the supplied Helly Hansen jacket is sometimes required. It’s not a t-shirt. The weather was clear and there were beautiful views over the rolling downland with Suilven, Cul Mor and Cul Beag.
Once we reached the top of the mountain, the mountain rescuers decided that we should carry the palanquin with others inside the steep rock. First the volunteers are tied up and a crash bag is raised around them to keep them safe, then we learn how to make a stretcher by hand, a slow but effective method that means you just hold the stretcher so the legs are safe and stationary. . Each time the palanquin is lifted by four pairs of people, the back pair will move forward and the exercise will be repeated.
Once we reach the top of the rose, we reverse the process and take the stretcher down. It’s hard work. There is a high rope, and if we prove our incompetence, the rope will go nowhere. As the ground is rocky, there are many stones, and one must be careful not to fall when passing the palanquin from behind. Even the eight people holding the palanquin felt heavy and the process was tiring.
In the next demonstration, the mountain rescuers get their attention by deploying their drones and show how valuable this can be. The team leader and the mountain leader (Hamlet Mountaineering) The Hamlet team disappeared in the corner to hide in the hole. The drone was then used to scan the sand. In infrared, it quickly takes the heat from Tim’s body and shows it clearly. Rescuers can quickly scan mountain streams and rivers without endangering themselves using such drones.
Without drones, it would take a long time and they would have to go in every pothole that could be dangerous. We also tried a Virtual Reality headset that gave us a bigger and clearer image than the small screen on the drone’s dashboard. It’s also a bit scary to use! When the drone flew out of the mountain, the people who were there were squeezed in the distance, and I felt like I was being projected into the air behind the mountain.
The unmanned exercise shows how important this technology is to rescue the mountain and how it can speed up the search. It was an interesting day, my knowledge of mountain rescue increased significantly and my respect for the dedication of the mountain rescue team increased.
How to organize a press trip! The weather also helped. Helly Hansen’s gear didn’t get much testing, but I did review the Odin 1 World Infinity waterproof jacket, which looks great in better conditions, and found it to work. We also tried the used Transistor pack and we liked it.
Helly Hansen also works with mountain rescue teams to “connect end users with Helly Hansen’s experts” through Trail Finder, a website that recommends routes from mountain rescuers in the UK and around the world. tools and methods.