TWO GERMAN climbers were taken off a ledge on the summit of Mount Brandon in Co Kerry yesterday in what rescue services described as a tough mission after the men became stranded and disoriented.
The men, in their 30s, had camped overnight near the peak but on descent became stranded on a ledge around 400m (1,312ft) over Loch an Mhónain before noon.
Rescuers, including a unit of the Dingle Coast Guard, described the ground as “awful”. The Valentia Coast Guard deployed the Shannon-based rescue helicopter, which arrived to ferry the men, who were weak and suffering from cold, on to the base of the west Kerry mountain.
Both were treated for mild hypothermia but did not require hospitalisation.
It was the second lucky escape in under a day in the southwest, according to the rescue services. On Sunday night a 60-year-old woman was airlifted from a site near Eyeries in west Cork after she tumbled 30.5m (100ft) down a ledge in the Ardgroom area north of Castletownbere. She was being treated for head and leg injuries.