A MEMORIAL event held in Nant Peris Church, in Snowdonia, to recollect those that died within the mountains in 2025, is to change into an annual tradition. It will mark Mountain Rescue Awareness Day, which falls on the last Sunday in October annually.
Mountain Rescue volunteers joined the area people on the weekend to light candles in memory of those that had died, and names were read aloud. Readings were accompanied by gentle harp music. The memorial was initiated by the Vicar of Bro Eryri, Canon Naomi Starkey.
“I’ve come to grasp the hazards in addition to the beauties of the amazing landscape,” she said. “It’s so poignant to listen to of individuals coming for an adventure within the mountains and the way that adventure sometimes ends in serious injury or death. I wanted to supply an area for grief and remembering, in a sacred place that’s within the very heart of Snowdonia.”
There have been several deaths in recent months on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and routes near by. Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) is the busiest within the UK, receiving a record 308 call-outs this 12 months up to now — nine per cent of the 3842 total across England and Wales. There were 32 in September alone.
“It is very important that we have now the chance to come back to a spot as special as Nant Peris Church to recollect those that enjoyed being out within the mountains and outdoors, but with sadness for many who didn’t come back on that day,” Barry Davies, a member of the Llanberis MRT, said.
“It’s necessary that we remember them and in addition show respect towards them, their families, and the broader mountaineering community.”
Data from Mountain Rescue and Ordnance Survey show an increase of 24 per cent in rescues between 2019 and 2024. The change has largely been attributed to the expansion in popularity of so-called honeypot locations from which selfies and other photos are shared on social media, and a younger audience counting on mobile-phone apps that lack the accurate detail needed to navigate safely in distant areas. It is 18- to 24-year-olds who at the moment are the demographic assisted most.
