TWO Pembrokeshire men were rescued by helicopter after becoming stuck in bitter freezing conditions on a remote mountain in Iceland.
Dayne Stone, from Pembroke, and Michael Hughes, from Penally, had taken part in an “ice climb” on Sunday night, April 15, as part of a trip to Iceland aboard a campervan with another friend.
However, when they reached the top they found the only way down was by using a “frozen-over waterfall” on the Botnsfjall mountain in Snæfellsnes on Iceland’s rugged west coast.
Images from the Iceland trip, courtesy of Dayne Stone.
Dayne said: “We’d been exploring mostly, we've got a whole 'adventure map' full of lesser known spots on the Iceland that I've compiled so we are just travelling round ticking them off at the moment.
“Basically we went for a hike and ended up scaling an ice bank that got steeper and steeper until we were climbing vertically for a few hundred feet, expecting the cliff to plateau so we could return by foot, but we had no such luck and ended up attempting to free climb back down, but the side of a volcano the rock is all sediment so just kept breaking away. “
There were only ice sheets and a frozen waterfall below, which was when the friends realised they would not be able to get down in the dark.
“After trying to get down for several hours we then called the coastguard, who brought the ice search and rescue team and somehow they weren't even able to climb up to us with their gear, let alone help us down, so they had to call in the helicopter.”
Dayne and Michael, both experienced mountaineers, said a team of 30 climbers was unable to reach them, as they had climbed so high, before they were rescued by helicopter at about 3am.
Despite a predicament that would terrify many, Dayne said they kept their calm in the “pretty savage” and “freezing” conditions: “Surprisingly no we weren't worried, we've been in similar situations before but always eventually helped ourselves out of them.
“We are experienced yeah, we free climbed the ice sheets up Crib Goch [in Snowdonia] recently when the snow was at its worst but we just weren't prepared for the volcanic rock making the decent impossible.”
PICTURES: @dayne_stone
A video of Dayne and Michael's experiences may be seen here
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article