Sign up for the Munro Challenge to help mountain rescuers

Others drift into suicidal despair. There’s no escape route for them, either.

Working as a volunteer for Scottish Mountain Rescue, Steve Penny has searched for both – lost climbers and lost souls. It’s the kind of work that changes a man.

“Dealing with death is the worst part of the job,” he admits. “I have seen people dead from almost every method. “Hanging, gunshot wounds, knife wounds, overdoses and accidents such as avalanches and drowning in rivers. I often wonder if I would be different if I hadn’t witnessed all these things.”

When most people think of the work undertaken by Scottish Mountain Rescue teams, they probably imagine the many lives saved. The bone-numb, muscle-weary wanderers who can once again sleep in a warm bed. Relieved relatives embracing safely returned loved ones.

That is, indeed, a large part of the work. Successes are many but working in harsh terrain also means facing up to harsh facts – people don’t always come back alive. And some of them don’t want to.

“The gunshot death was just an accident in the hills,” says Steve, who lives in Selkirk and works for the Forestry Commission when he isn’t with Scottish Mountain Rescue.

“A gamekeeper was carrying a weapon over his shoulder and then he tripped up and fell down a bank. As he went over, very unfortunately, the muzzle went into his stomach and shot him.So that was a hill accident, and a very unusual one for my team to deal with.

“But we also deal with despondent people who head off into the hills, woodlands and forest areas. Unfortunately many of these people do end up committing suicide, and that’s something that we have to deal with, too.”

Listening to Steve, it’s clear that volunteering for Scottish Mountain Rescue can be both physically demanding and psychologically draining. Yet there are still many people unaware of the important service they provide.

The Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky Munro Challenge was set up to rectify that situation. Now in its second year, the event - which takes place on munros across the country – helps raise awareness of the invaluable work done by Scottish Mountain Rescue.

Steve, who is 55, has been with the Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team since 1992. Before that he was with an outfit based in Galloway and is currently vice chair of Scottish Mountain Rescue.

Have things changed since he started volunteering?

“Nowadays there is much better training and equipment,” he says. "Overall my experience is one of increasing professionalism within SMR. But there are also increasing demands on teams, in terms of expectations. For team members it is becoming more difficult to be a volunteer, what with pressures from employment and busy family lives.”

Moira Weatherstone has solved the latter problem by volunteering for Scottish Mountain Rescue along with a member of her family - her pet dog, Kim. Moira is an accountant based in Arrochar. She spends most of her time chewing over numbers. Kim spends most of her time chewing over bones. But when they are called to the mountains, the pair are always ready for a rescue. Though there is one small problem.

Kim isn’t all that fond of the helicopter that often takes her and her mistress into the hills. “Kim doesn’t like going under the rotor blades because there’s a lot of downwash coming off the rotors. But once you get her on the aircraft itself, where all the wind and noise is a bit less, she settles down and is actually OK.

“When she’s on board she just curls up in a wee ball and is quite happy.”

Kim is the third dog that Moira has worked with as part of the Arrochar Mountain Rescue team.

How helpful have the animals been when she is on a mountain? “Basically a dog is another tool at the disposal of a rescue team,” says Moira, 53.

“A good dog doesn’t rely on its sense of vision, so at night it’s particularly useful. Our dogs are trained to work on air-borne scent, unlike police dogs, which are sent specific. This means they can pick up sent from a considerable distance. A dog is also very useful in an avalanche because they can cover the ground really fast.”

But is it hard work for Moira, having to look after herself and Kim?

“It’s a wee bit more difficult. We dog handlers tend to work on our own. It’s just me and my dog and radio communication with other handlers and the mountain rescue team back at base.

“That can be quite challenging because if you’re out there in the dark, you have to concentrate on your own navigation, and where you are. But you also have to be aware of where the dog has been, and where it’s going.”

Clearly there’s no easy job for anybody involved with Scottish Mountain Rescue. Paul Russell is deputy team leader of Tayside. The 45-year-old has been a volunteer for eight years and admits there have been a few dangerous scrapes along the way.

“Probably steep ground in winter is the worst,” he says. “It’s a nightmare when you can’t see two metres in front of you. You’re out there, and you’re the one who is on a rescue mission. But there’s always the possibility of one slip or fall, and the mountain is going to take you away as well.

“Sometimes you can have a total whiteout when it’s snowing. Then it becomes hard to differentiate between what’s land and what’s not.”

With such conditions, does Paul ever get nervous?

“You have the adrenalin to get you through. Even the people who have been doing the job for 20 odd years, they still get that buzz when they get the phone call. You just go into rescue mode. You have a job to do. So your head goes down, and you go out there, and you try to find the lost people and get them to a safe place.

“That’s what we’re there for, and that’s what it’s all about.”

STILL TIME TO SIGN UP

Polish your hiking boots and treat yourself to a new rucksack: next month sees the annual Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky Munro Challenge taking place on Munros across the country.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky, in association with outdoor specialist Tiso, invites everyone from novices to outdoors enthusiasts to savour the Scottish outdoors and support the vital work done by Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR).

The Munro Challenge helps raise awareness of the charity’s life-saving voluntary work, encourages enjoyment of Scotland’s beautiful landscape and, most importantly, raises money for the charity. Last year walkers raised more than £21,000 for SMR.

Entry is simple – assemble a team of colleagues, friends or family, or even take on a personal challenge and climb on your own. Complete the online registration form and encourage everyone to help you raise money then climb one of Scotland’s 282 Munros this September.

Day in, day out, all year round, SMR is a crucial resource to all those who enjoy Scotland’s mountains and desperately needs support.

More than 1,000 SMR volunteers spend upwards of 30,000 hours of their time just on call-outs every year. They are often braving the elements and risking their lives so that we can all continue to walk, climb and explore the Scottish countryside. Annually it costs around £1.2 million to run SMR, with 70 per cent of that money generated through fundraising alone. Isle of Skye 8-Year-Old Blended Scotch Whisky is the only major commercial sponsor.

With hill-walking, climbing and adventure travel in Scotland on the increase, more and more pressure is being placed on the voluntary teams. Public support is key to helping them with the provision of their specialised rescue equipment and much-needed additional resources.

More information on the Munro Challenge is available at Tiso stores across Scotland.

To sign up or for further details, visit isleofskyewhisky.com/munro-challenge. The closing date for registration is September 6, 2015.