A MEMORIAL event held in Nant Peris Church, in Snowdonia, to remember those who died in the mountains in 2025, is to become an annual tradition. It will mark Mountain Rescue Awareness Day, which falls on the last Sunday in October each year.
Mountain Rescue volunteers joined the local community at the weekend to light candles in memory of those who 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 realise the dangers as well as the beauties of the amazing landscape,” she said. “It’s so poignant to hear of people coming for an adventure in the mountains and how that adventure sometimes ends in serious injury or death. I wanted to provide a space for grief and remembering, in a sacred place that’s in 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 in the UK, receiving a record 308 call-outs this year so far — nine per cent of the 3842 total across England and Wales. There were 32 in September alone.
“It is important that we have the opportunity to come to a place as special as Nant Peris Church to remember those who enjoyed being out in the mountains and outdoors, but with sadness for those who did not come back on that day,” Barry Davies, a member of the Llanberis MRT, said.
“It’s important that we remember them and also show respect towards them, their families, and the wider mountaineering community.”
Data from Mountain Rescue and Ordnance Survey show a rise of 24 per cent in rescues between 2019 and 2024. The change has largely been attributed to the growth in popularity of so-called honeypot locations from which selfies and other photos are shared on social media, and a younger audience relying on mobile-phone apps that lack the accurate detail needed to navigate safely in remote areas. It is 18- to 24-year-olds who are now the demographic assisted most.
