The pair managed to complete the ascent of Tryfan's North Ridge before getting stuck. Photo: Richard Webb CC-BY-SA-2.0

A Good Friday scramble ended with two people having to be rescued after they got stuck after straying on to steep ground on a Snowdonia mountain.

The pair, described by rescuers as ‘relatively inexperienced’ got themselves on to difficult terrain on Tryfan’s West Face after scrambling to the mountain’s summit via the North Ridge.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation went to the pair’s aid after being alerted at 4.45pm yesterday in an operation involving 13 volunteer team members.

A spokesperson for the rescue team said: “Although kitted with harnesses, helmets and waterproofs, they did not have a map or any prior knowledge of the mountain. They successfully gained the summit but strayed on to the West Face on their descent and became cragfast.”

The OVMRO used the Sarloc system, developed by team member Russ Hore, to get an approximate location for the scramblers.

The system uses a smartphone’s built-in GPS receiver to get a fix of the location of its user and then, after a hyperlink is sent to the phone and the person requesting a rescue clicks on it, the team is sent the grid reference of the phone.

Rescuers put several teams on the hill to find the pair, who had managed to make their way to a safer location on the 918m (3,010ft) mountain.

The spokesperson said: “During the rescue the party managed to get themselves to a higher, safer location and also met another walking party, but it was thought best for them to wait for the rescue team members who were close by.

“They were safely walked back to the road.”

The rescue, the 26th of the year for the team, ended at 8.30pm.