"On the 19th of November, 1971, a group of high school students from Ainslie Park School in Edinburgh set off for a weekend adventure in the Cairngorms..."
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► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
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#Documentary #History #TrueStories
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LearningTranscript
00:00On the 19th of November, 1971, a group of high school students from Ainslie Park School in
00:18Edinburgh set off for a weekend adventure in the Cairngorms, a rugged mountain range to the north
00:24of the city. As bad weather settled in over the highlands, what started out as a weekend hike
00:31would soon turn into a life and death battle for survival, from which six of the group would never
00:37return. The UK is a country with few wildernesses. The vast majority of land in the UK is owned or
00:46farmed. The woodlands which exist are generally managed. There are no deserts, no vast inland
00:53lakes, no huge tracts of untamed wild. Even in the country's national parks visitors are rarely
01:00more than a few hours from civilization. The Scottish Cairngorms, then, are perhaps the last
01:06remaining area of real wilderness to be found in the UK. The largest national park in the country,
01:13this mountainous area is named for its largest peak, Cairngorm. It's an area which offers
01:20opportunities for hiking, climbing, camping, kayaking, and cycling. It's home to the only
01:27free-ranging herd of reindeer in the UK, and is a place where you can spot all kinds of wildlife
01:32that you simply wouldn't see elsewhere. The Cairngorms are beautiful, but they can also be
01:40somewhat dangerous. The slopes of some peaks are sheer, small avalanches are common, and slips,
01:47trips, and falls account for a number of injuries every year. By far the greatest danger, though,
01:53is the weather, which can change incredibly rapidly at higher elevations. While much of
02:00the area is undeveloped, some facilities have been installed to help keep visitors safe and
02:06comfortable. Rudimentary but cozy huts known as bothies are dotted around the hills to be used
02:13as stopping-off points on multi-day hikes, and at higher elevations there are several very basic
02:19shelters made of metal sheeting and stone, little more than windbreaks, designed to be used only in
02:25emergencies. One of these shelters, the Curran Bothy, would play a role in the Cairngorm Plateau
02:32disaster, the worst mountaineering tragedy in British history. On the 19th of November 14 students
02:41from Ainslie Park School in Edinburgh arrived at the Lagenlia Outdoors Centre in the Cairngorms.
02:48The Outdoors Centre was accustomed to hosting school groups, and would be a comfortable place
02:53to spend the first night. The next morning the real adventure would begin, a 17-kilometer
03:00or 10.5-mile hike from Cairngorm to Ben Macdui. It would be a challenging trek for the children,
03:08most of whom were only 15 years old, but they were excited for it. They would be
03:13using the walk as an opportunity to practice making basic bivouac shelters in snowy conditions.
03:21Leading the hike was 23-year-old Ben Beattie, the outdoor activity instructor from the school.
03:27He was joined by his partner, 20-year-old Katherine Davidson. Though less experienced than Ben,
03:35Katherine was nonetheless approved by the school, and had at least experienced the Cairngorms in
03:40winter a few times before. The group was also accompanied by 18-year-old Sheila Sunderland,
03:47a volunteer from the Lagenlia Outdoors Centre. Given that foul weather was forecast for the
03:54weekend some precautions were taken. The group was issued with cold weather gear, and the leaders
04:01agreed a firm plan which was reviewed and approved by management at Lagenlia.
04:07They would attempt the hike as best they were able, but if conditions got too bad or the children
04:13too tired they would abandon their goal and instead take shelter at the Curran Bothy.
04:20The next morning the group set out quite late in the day, driving to a car park in the hills and
04:25then using a ski lift to get a start into their hike. After riding up together they split into
04:32smaller groups, with the more experienced hikers, led by Ben Beattie, striking out ahead, while six
04:40of the younger and less experienced children followed along behind. This second group was
04:46led by Katherine Davidson, with the assistance of volunteer Sheila Sunderland. Ben's group pulled
04:53ahead. Katherine's group followed along some way behind. As the day wore on the weather worsened,
05:01and both groups quickly realized that they would have to make use of their emergency plan
05:06and head for the Curran Bothy. Ben's group reached the emergency shelter with only moderate
05:12difficulty. They scraped snow away from the entrance and bedded down for a chilly and
05:18uncomfortable night. Though the weather was bad, they weren't too worried. Katherine's group,
05:25they were quite sure, would have found shelter at a bothy lower down the mountain.
05:31But this was not the case. Katherine's group, being nowhere near the Curran Bothy, had indeed
05:37diverted to head for a different, closer shelter. Before they could get there, though, they were
05:43surrounded by whiteout conditions. Worried about getting lost, and with the children in the group
05:50distressed and panicky, Katherine decided to stop where they were for the night. The group built a
05:56wall of snow and bivouacked behind it, huddling together for warmth. One thing that must be
06:03understood when considering the events which followed is the effect of cold. Cold of the kind
06:10experienced by the children bivouacked on that exposed mountain plateau makes everything more
06:15difficult. It muddles thinking, numbs fingers, makes simple actions insanely difficult. Tasks
06:24that should take mere moments can take hours. As the body uses all its available energy for keeping
06:32warm, an incredible exhaustion makes it hard to move, let alone hike. The party remained confident
06:41at first, talking and singing to keep up their spirits. But soon, however, sleep overtook them.
06:49When they woke the next morning it was to find themselves almost completely buried by snow.
06:55Two were more able than the others. Katherine, the group leader, and a boy named William Kerr
07:02were still able to move freely. They worked together to dig out their buried companions
07:07and to keep them calm. Realizing the danger of their situation, Katherine and William attempted
07:14to go for help, but made it only a few steps from their camp. Waste-deep snow and howling winds
07:23sent them back to the bivouac. It seemed then and there that there was no way out.
07:29They would have to wait for rescue. As Katherine's group waited, Ben's group was making its way back
07:36to civilization. This was not an easy task. They were almost entombed inside their shelter by a
07:43huge drift of snow, and later had to abseil down a sheer slope, with one child in the group slipping
07:49and narrowly avoiding injury. By a mix of determination and good fortune they made it
07:55to the nearby town of Aviemore by late afternoon. On arriving they discovered that Katherine's party
08:02was unaccounted for, and raised the alarm. A search began. Roaming the hills with flares,
08:09some rescuers came painfully close to finding Katherine's group. Katherine saw the light of
08:15their flares through the driving snow, but her own flares were buried beneath the snow,
08:20and however loudly she shouted she could not make herself heard over the howling wind.
08:26The rescuers passed them by, and they were condemned to another night on the mountain.
08:33On Monday morning, almost two days after setting out on the hike, Katherine and William Kerr set
08:39out once more to seek rescue. Exhausted beyond endurance, William collapsed in the snow.
08:47Katherine persevered, walking, then stumbling, then crawling along.
08:53Eventually her bright orange jacket was spotted by a helicopter crew, who were able to rescue her.
09:00Though barely conscious, she was able to give a general location, and with this information the
09:07other children were found within hours. Unfortunately, it was too late for all but
09:13one of them. 15-year-old William Kerr, 15-year-old Susan Byrne, 15-year-old Lorraine Margaret,
09:2315-year-old Diane Dudgeon, 16-year-old Carol Bertram, and 18-year-old Sheila Sunderland
09:31had all passed away in the cold. 15-year-old Raymond Leslie, the smallest of the group,
09:38around whom the others had huddled to provide what little warmth they could, survived.
09:47An inquiry into the incident was held early the next year. It was clear that many mistakes had
09:53been made. Such an arduous hike should never have been approved for children of that age,
09:59and should certainly have been reconsidered in light of the weather forecast.
10:04The group should have started earlier in the day, and should not have taken the chairlift,
10:09as doing so denied them the opportunity to assess walking conditions before they had
10:14traveled too far from help. It was recommended that, in the future, outdoor activity leaders
10:21should be formally certified to ensure they had sufficient experience, and hikes should be chosen
10:27carefully with regard for the age and experience of the people involved, especially when those
10:32people were children. The inquiry stopped short of blaming any one individual, and did not ban
10:40school trips to the Cairngorms altogether, as it recognized the value of allowing children to
10:45participate in adventurous outdoor activities. The effectiveness of the emergency shelters was
10:52called into question. The Curran Bothy had been established for many years, and was a focal point
10:58for hikers in the area. Some people argued that the shelter was essential. The protection it
11:05provided in an emergency could be the difference between life and death. Others countered that the
11:11fact that the shelter existed at all gave hikers a point to aim for, and therefore encouraged them
11:17to push onwards in bad conditions when, if no such shelter existed, they would have to turn back.
11:24While there were passionate arguments made from both sides, in the end the Curran Bothy
11:30and one other were demolished. The Cairngorms continue to be enjoyed by many thousands each
11:37year. Schools still visit. The Laganlir Centre is still used by school trips, but now whenever a
11:45hike is undertaken the people leading it are certified and trained to an agreed-upon standard.
11:52Though the occasional small incident is inevitable,
11:56never again has there been a tragedy on the scale of the Cairngorm Plateau disaster.
12:15you