Who Are We?
Based in Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis, Lochaber Mountain Rescue is an extremely active team. Born in the late 1960’s, it started as a group of committed local climbers getting to help fellow climbers in need.
The Lochaber team today has 39 full members, 14 aspirants and we provide rescue services on behalf of Police Scotland all year round.
Given the large number of our callouts and the serious nature of our terrain, it is vital that we have a committed team with plenty of availability, a high level of competence and who can problem solve, react to the ever changing nature of call outs and can trust in the all round competence of every member. We are trained to handle serious medical trauma, conduct multi day searches across complex terrain and rig rope rescues. Winter adds a whole extra challenge – the cold, the darkness, and the often more serious nature of the rescues. We are extremely privileged and grateful to have a number of doctors, rope access technicians, mechanics and highly competent mountaineers as part of the team.
What We Do?
Ben Nevis sees several hundred thousand visitors each year, with another 60,000 taking the precipitous path up to Steall Falls and a large proportion of our call outs are on the busy mountain track and in Glen Nevis. We are also regularly faced with large scale technical rope rescues on the north face of the Ben and elsewhere on our patch. Although often assisted by the helicopter crews, we rack up serious mileage and height gain with heavy packs and in all weathers and seasons. We are also called to searches for missing hill walkers and climbers which can become multi day operations, swift water and gorge rescues and reports of vulnerable people in remote places in crisis.
Visitors to Lochaber have doubled in the last twenty years and that number is continuing to grow exponentially. This increase is reflected in the number of call outs per year and 2024 broke the team record yet again with 165 call outs. As an entirely voluntary team, responding to calls and attending training is a huge demand on time and it is unnerving to see these number rise so quickly. Taking the lead in a team like this requires extraordinary fortitude, resilience and a remarkable ability to survive on little sleep and lots of chocolate bars. There was a day in summer 2024 with 5 call outs!
Our Area
Outside of Ben Nevis, our patch is large. We travel from Creag Meagaidh and Corrour in the east, up to Fort Augustus and across to the Loch Quoich munros in the north, remote Knoydart in the west and further out to the small isles of Rum, Eigg and Muck. Our southern boundary shares the Mamores with the Glencoe team and our teams regularly assist each other during large or challenging searches and incidents. We are very proud of our close relationships and collaboration with the local landowners. We often rely on and are very grateful for their support and knowledge of the area.
The area covered by LMRT
Outside of our own call outs, we can be called to assist other teams in large incidents and searches. We also provide support for race events and Highland Games. Our presence at these incident and events helps to maintain the high profile and standing of the team within the community and for visitors. It allows us to share our stories, services and to raise the much needed funds that keep us going. Without our generous donors we wouldn’t function, so a heartfelt thanks to all that help out in this vital way. You keep us warm and dry and most importantly, out in the hills to help those who need it.
Why We Do It
“Call out for a hypothermic casualty on summit of Ben Nevis”
Volunteering with LMRT is a commitment – taking time away from work and family throughout the year. It can also be tough, heading out in wild weather for long nights on the hill. Our members volunteer for their own personal reasons, but these generally converge around wanting to ‘give back’, learning new skills, the camaraderie of being together with the team and wanting to put their specific skills to use in helping people in need.
Our volunteers are all active on the hills of Lochaber, and have a huge collective knowledge and experience of not just the area’s hills, but also its forests, lochs, rivers and outdoor places. Our team consists of outdoor professionals, medical professionals and also people who just love Lochaber’s outdoors. Our members participate in a wide range of outdoor activities, and bring a range of skills and expertise to rescues. We have some very competent, caring, strong, fit and resilient folk!
Our rescues are normally good fun regardless of the conditions. Our volunteers are a close team who come together on the hill to make sure we do our best for people needing support on the hill with care and respect, but also good humour!
Our Base
The team has worked hard to develop a substantial base in Fort William. We have dedicated spaces for all equipment and for the team to store their own kit ready to go, a stocked kitchen to keep us full of beans, a small gym to help us develop the stretcher carrying muscles, and a highly equipped control room. We also have a fleet of vehicles including a quad bike and a tracked ATV. We recently expanded the base to house our vehicles properly but we are always looking to develop the facilities to improve call out response time and our level of care for casualties.
Donations
Just Giving is the simplest way to donate and if you are a UK Tax payer we will also receive Gift Aid on your donation. Simply click on the Just Giving link and follow the instructions to donate securely.
Transfer
Name: Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Account number: 06001291
Sort code: 80-06-84
We’d love to know who you are so we can thank you, but this can also be an anonymous way to donate.