The weekend of the 20th and 21st August was the team's first following a short pause in training over the summer to catch up on family time.
On Saturday some members of the team headed up in the hills to tread some familiar routes, whilst others worked on maintaining the bothies at the Spital and Derry. This included chopping and splitting a huge number of logs to keep the fires going through the winter. The midges were out in full force in the evening and seemed to prefer to be inside with the team, much to our annoyance!
As we woke on Sunday we learnt that the helicopter we had requested for training had been out since 4am on a job, so we headed to the hills for plan B - first aid scenarios and a stretcher carry. This was a tough introduction for our new members as Thilo (our casualty for the day) had surely been enjoying a bbq or two over the summer months and weighed more than we expected.
As we headed downhill we heard the distant sound of rotor blades. After letting Thilo out of the stretcher we donned helmets and goggles just in time for Coastgaurd 951 to land next to us and prepare for winching. The team were lifted out in sticks of 6 and dropped at the head of Loch Muick. Waving them off, we headed home for tea and a de-brief, the consensus being that this had been an excellent return following our summer break!
