The deaths of two climbers yesterday on a Co Kerry hillwalking outing brings to three the number of dead on the Kerry mountains this Christmas holiday.
The dead, a man and a woman, were on their way down a steep gully in a remote area south of Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain, in the Black Valley area.
A third colleague was brought to Tralee General Hospital with leg and head injuries.
Thousands of hillwalkers head for the Kerry area this time of year. Many of them are from nearby Cork, on day trips or on week-long climbing expeditions for the Christmas break.
An hour away from Cork city, the slopes of Mangerton, in Killarney National Park, or the more challenging peaks of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, offer tempting climbs.
While casualties on Carrauntoohil in the Reeks account for most of the fatalities (there have been 10 deaths on the mountain since 1966), nearby slopes can also be treacherous.
The Purple Mountain, Mount Brandon and the Dingle Mountains have all seen fatalities and there have been serious injuries in the Kenmare and in the Cork/Kerry border hills.
Leg injuries are common but exhaustion and hypothermia, when climbers head out without adequate protective gear, account for a good many of the rescue missions by Kerry Mountain Rescue.
"A moment's inattention on the mountain can have tragic consequences," Mr Gerry Christie, of Kerry Mountain Rescue, warned in the wake of the death of one Cork climber less than 10 days ago.
Not high by international standards, the Kerry mountains should not be underestimated, Kerry Mountain Rescue warns.
Set up in 1966 following the deaths of two climbers on Carrauntoohil, Kerry Mountain Rescue is called to dozens of missions each year. There are more each year as hillwalking gains in popularity.
Yesterday, a quarter of the team of 30 was on Carrauntoohil to take a man with head injuries off the Devil's Ladder area when the call came of the more serious incident on the Black Valley, south of Carrauntoohil.
Navigational error remains the single greatest contributory factor to mountain accidents and incidents resulting in mountain rescue callouts.
Kerry Mountain Rescue publishes information on its website at www.kerrymountainrescue.ie