Members of the Five Peaks Challenge team, which last weekend attempted to
scale the highest peaks in Britain and Ireland in 48 hours, have strongly rejected suggestions they abandoned two men who were attempting to lend them assistance on Carrauntuohill earlier this week.
The 11-member team were close to becoming the first Irish team to successfully complete the Five Peaks challenge until poor weather conditions on Carrauntuohill, the fifth and final climb, forced them to turn back.
|
Two men who made up part of the Challenge's support team had to be taken off the Devil's Ladder area of the mountain in appalling weather conditions by the Kerry Rescue Mountain Team early on Tuesday morning.
They were on the mountain to act as witnesses if the Five Peak participants completed the challenge.
The core members of the Five Peaks Challenge team said last night that they had no idea that the two men were on the mountain when they made their decision to abandon their attempt to scale the final peak.
"We as a group had no knowledge that these people were there in the first place. We understood that there would be a support team for record and assistance purposes, but never that they could be up a mountain stranded in poor conditions," team member, Ms Lorraine Keane said.
"Any insinuations by certain quarters in the media that we abandoned two people on the mountain couldn't be further from the truth," Ms Keane, a TV3 presenter said. "We are very proud that we acted with responsibility and quick minds."
When the core team were made aware that members of the support team were trapped on the mountain, they alerted the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team (KMR) and two team members, Lt Neil Deegan and Mr Cathal Cregg, stayed on the mountainside until the men were down safely.
"While the Five Peaks team fully support the efforts of the people who came out on the night, they cannot accept any direct responsibility for their independent actions to go up the Devils ladder and beyond," Ms Keane continued.
Mr Ian McKeever, founder of Operation Rudolph, the umbrella organisation which was helping three charities on this challenge, applauded the professional manner in which the KMR responded.
He also pointed out that, contrary to some media reports, the KMR "had no issues with the organisers of this challenge and appreciated that the core five peaks team were fully equipped and trained to deal with any situations on the mountains".
