Rescuers have criticised a party on Snowdon who needed rescuing after straying on to Crib Goch.

Some of a 27-strong group, from West Yorkshire, were clad in trainers and jeans and included two nine- and 11-year-old boys who were rescued from the notorious ridge after becoming cragfast. By the time they were helped to an RAF helicopter, the boys had mild hypothermia.

The rescue began after the party got strung out and a group of four, including the youngsters, strayed on to the ridge. The walkers were unable to give an exact location and it was only after one of the men made his way down that their position was determined.

Members of Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) used ropes to lower the boys to safety and they were then piggy-backed to the waiting helicopter, from RAF Valley. They were taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.Dr Gwyn Roberts of the MRT said any party should be prepared to turn back if they encountered bad weather.
 

• Police named a man who fell to his death on Crib Goch last Thursday. John Richard Norcross, from Woodley, near Stockport, fell 90m (300ft) from the ridge. 19 members of the Llanberis MRT went to the rescue of the 60-year-old, an experienced walker, who was on the mountain with his son-in-law. He was taken by RAF helicopter to Ysbyty Gwynedd, but pronounced dead.