James Edwards, Dundonnell MRT

Following his death after a fall on Ruadh Stac Mor, Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team has issued a tribute to James Edwards.

On Friday, 12 August 2016, James was heading to a remote Munro, Ruadh Stac Mor (918 metres), in the centre of the Letterewe ‘wilderness’ to set up a mountain top radio relay station for a charity walking/running event, The Great Wilderness Challenge (GWC), which was to start early the next day.

Team Chairman, Keith Bryers, said: "Since 1987 Dundonnell MRT has provided a safety net to participants, with members dispersed along the route and on nearby high spots to provide a radio net and first aid, if required, across this vast and rugged area. James had done this on previous Challenges. Unfortunately, whilst ascending the hill, James slipped and fell. He carried with him a Personal Locator Beacon and, whilst he had sustained injuries in his fall, he was sufficiently conscious to activate the beacon and give a precise position to the beacon rescue centre. This information was passed to the team and enabled us to locate James as quickly as we did – but even then this took some 6 hours to achieve due to the distances we had to walk with bulky rescue and medical kit. We were very pleased to have had assistance from colleagues in neighbouring Torridon MRT in undertaking this call-out.

"At this stage, the rescue helicopter was unable to get to his position due the very poor weather conditions. Team members reached James in the early hours of Saturday and were able to render immediate emergency medical care, making him as comfortable as possible prior to getting ready to completely immobilise James for the helicopter’s arrival and preventing any further injury. At first light James was stretchered down to a position where it was possible for the helicopter to lift him out despite testing conditions. We are very grateful to the crew of HM Coastguard helicopter ‘Rescue 948’ for their persistence and for their returning later to collect the very tired team.

"Having climbed all over the world, James was well-known in mountaineering circles. Upon joining the team in 2013 he quickly brought his experience to bear, making a significant contribution to our activities. James subsequently trained to become one of the team’s Emergency Medicine Technicians and took part in a number of call-outs, including a memorable and successful one at Torr Achility, close to home. His climbing stories and sense of humour will be much missed by us all; our heartfelt thoughts are with his family."

James (36) was a primary school teacher in Inverness and was married to Tanya. The couple had two young sons.

A private celebration of James’ life was held on Saturday, 27 August. Anyone wishing to make a donation in support of the team’s activities may do so via the ‘Just Giving’ area of the team's website: http://www.dmrt.org.uk/