UKC

Hello!

Myself and *name withheld to protect UKC user* have been in and around the Tryfan area for the past 2 days. The S and R chopper has been exhibiting weird behaviour. It flies in a loop, seemingly visiting nowhere, before hovering low around grid ref 666605. It has been doing this for hours on end yesterday and today. 

Any clues what on earth is going on? 

I wonder if they're training flights?

We thought that but also thought it:

a) a weird flight path for training as it was simply heading part way up the valley before returning to hover.

B) a slightly strange use of resources over a busy bank holiday weekend (unless someone's caning the bank holiday overtime :p)

https://ogwen-rescue.org.uk/incident-details/

It looks like there was a serious incident near there yesterday.

Winch practice / familiarisation flights for OVMRO? That's pretty much over their base.

What colour was the chopper?

The rescue helicopter local to me seems to spend a lot of time hovering over the same spot of ocean about 500m out. Every few weeks we hear/see it hovering there for a couple of hours. I figure it's just on an expensive fishing trip.

It was a White and Red one. 

Are you sure of that GR? A5 near Glan Dena at the E end of Llyn Owen?

Yesterday saw a near 5 hour rescue involving the chopper on Tryfan itself (Waterfall Gully), and there would have been activity at OVMRO base at Bryn Poeth (674607)

The Glan Dena site may just have been the holding hover point for the helicopter while waiting for the call to return to the rescue winch site. 

Sounds like a standard training flight to me.  The SR hellos down her in Cornwall do that quite regularly around Brown Willy and Rough tor.  I Photographed one last weekend by chance.  Circling and returning to hover close to the summit. Have seen them do it a number of times in that area, over the years.

Clearly there was a callout in the area. That my not have been what you where watching though. Or perhaps it started as a training flight and the Hello was then Tasked, as it was close by. But those loops to a point and then Hover there, is fairly typical training for SR Helo, from what I have seen myself.

There were rescues both days. Fridays flights were ferrying people and equipment, Saturdays flight was a holding pattern before winching a casualty. There are some photos on the OVMRT Instagram. 

Thank you all for your great insight. Really interesting stuff! Fingers crossed for positive outcomes for all involved.

BB

While, obviously, being appreciative of the Mountain Rescue organisation and its helicopter facility, actually walking in the N Wales mountains when the helicopter is on a mission, training or actual rescue work, is, soundwise, a pain in the ears. It's a consequence, I think, of there simply being many more people in the mountains than there used to be 10, 20, 30 or more years ago. So the accident rate has gone up ands there are more rescues.

A helicopter's sound travels as it circles over a spot and no-one goes to the mountains to listen to helicopters. But they are necessary for rescue work and yet they spoil the mountain experience. I wish they weren't there. I wish they weren't necessary.

Currently the USA's Yosemite Park has restricted entrance. Its website text says: " A reservation will be required to drive into Yosemite National Park from May 20 through September 30, 2022, for those driving into the park between 6 am and 4 pm. Driving through the park will also require a reservation if entering between 6 am and 4 pm. The temporary reservation system will help manage congestion and provide a quality visitor experience while numerous key visitor attractions are closed for critical infrastructure repairs."

Is Snowdonia providing a quality visitor experience for climbers and walkers? Are the walker+climber numbers too high? What is too high? Should there be a limit? Who would set it? Is this, basically, a set of unanswerable questions? Lots more people want to share the mountain experience, visitor numbers will grow and helicopters will fly. Suck it up.

Too many outdoor magazines "pushing" the outdoor experience.

I feel the answer would be a spate of periodicals covering the pleasures of the Seaside, where to go, what to experience, what to wear (technical clothing, speedos or shorts?), how to prepare and be fit, The amusement arcade experience, whether to go solo or roped, whether to employ a guide, diet guidelines for maximising performance ..  The beach helmet controversy, is it ethical to wetsuit or not?  Trad swimming against beach sport

you get my drift

I apologise if this sounds pedantic but your comment could, I feel, create the impression that the SAR helicopter is operated by or solely for the MR set up.

It is, as I'm sure you know, operated by HM Coastguard and is available for any emergency situation where its use is considered appropriate and necessary. As well as mountain rescue - which probably accounts for a fraction of its activities-it is I understand used for search and rescue at sea, supporting police and ambulance services and emergency transportation of seriously ill patients.

I understand your concerns about noise levels but, in such a situation the temporary disruption to somebody's peace and quiet may well result in the saving of a life.

I think we should remember that helicopters are expensive to operate and their use will not be sanctioned without good reason

Indeed, uk government funded SAR exists because of international maritime and aviation rescue agreements(covering land and sea rescues). Whilst being beneficial for all, rescuing walkers in the hills isn't their primary role. If it were they'd use smaller more agile helicopters to start with, but big helicopters are much better suited to evacuating ships, trawlers, oil rigs, flying resources into a crash like Lockerbie  etc.. 

Chris, A point to note, the reduction in yosemite passes is primarily because they are renovating visitor services and facilities and nothing to do with too many visitors overall.