Alpine conditions in a country where the highest peek is at 1041 m (3415 feet) only

October 25, 2006 4:52 AM

Treacherous Irish Mountains
posted by rom1 (8 comments total)

Contributory negligence helps - in the first link most of the injuries are "pilgrims" walking up Croagh Patrick, probably barefoot.
posted by Joeforking at 6:14 AM on October 25, 2006

I actually would've expected that Wicklow would be the busiest team, although to be fair there's only five incidents in the difference for this year.
posted by TwoWordReview at 6:17 AM on October 25, 2006

Of course if I'd checked the dates I would've realised that the Wicklow callout log hasn't been updated since August.
posted by TwoWordReview at 6:20 AM on October 25, 2006

I think highly changeable weather conditions must contribute too.

I only did a single one-day walk in Ireland, on the Cooley peninsula. At breakfast time, the top of the mountain was hidden in cloud. By noon I was sweltering under a blue sky, so hot the tarmac melted onto my shoes. In the afternoon, I got rained on walking back.

Had a nice walk though.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 6:28 AM on October 25, 2006

Yah, not so much the terrain that's the problem, it's the issue of it suddenly disappearing for the rest of the day into a thick bank of fog. I was warned several times about keeping an eye on the approaching weather when I was hiking up in Connemara and the twelve pins regions.

Living between the Olympic and the Cascade ranges in the northwestern US, I must admit to chuckling a bit when the Irish described their "mountains" to me, but still, I imagine falling off a cliff in a fogbank hurts just as much whether it's 500 feet or 5000...
posted by Aquaman at 9:34 AM on October 25, 2006

I've hiked some of the Wicklow Way. It was hilly, rocky, and a little muddy. But I never felt in danger.
posted by luckypozzo at 2:17 PM on October 25, 2006

Caution: That second link has staticky audio.
posted by surlycat at 1:58 AM on October 26, 2006

Plus, many of these teams are people who like hiking who do this for free. A friend has helped try and save a few naive tourist who try the trail at Slieve League during some of the mad Atlantic storms that arrive in Donegal.
posted by zaphod at 12:02 AM on November 4, 2006 [1 favorite]