Mountain rescue teams from north and south of the Border are due to sweep Co Mayo’s Mweelrea mountain today in the continued search for a hillwalker who has been missing since Tuesday.
The concerted effort, which is expected to resume at first light, will involve Irish Coast Guard ground teams, gardaí and, if weather permits, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter from Sligo.
The man (38), who is said to be married with two children, is an experienced hillwalker who had set off on Tuesday on a ridge walk towards Mweelrea, Connacht’s highest mountain at 2,686ft.
The alarm was raised on Wednesday when he had failed to make contact. The man had set out from Doolough and had planned to take a route via Ben Bury on to Mweelrea’s summit and return via a high ridge towards Ben Lugmore.
The route is not regarded as the most difficult approach to Mweelrea, but takes an estimated five hours to complete.
Mayo Mountain Rescue Team spokesman Colm Byrne said the man was well equipped for the elements and was a member of the Irish Mountaineering Club, but weather conditions on Tuesday were very windy with heavy rain showers.
The remote sandstone mountain is as hazardous as any upland when mist closes in and is very exposed to winds funnelling along Killary fjord.
The man had left his tent in his car at Doolough, as he intended to camp overnight on his return.
Irish Coast Guard teams from Westport, Co Mayo, and Cleggan, Co Galway, yesterday joined volunteers from Mayo, Dublin-Wicklow, Sligo- Leitrim and Galway mountain rescue teams for a 10-hour search. The clear conditions were ideal for an extensive scan of the mountain by the Irish Coast Guard Sligo helicopter.
Search-and-rescue dogs from Co Donegal and from Northern Ireland had been taken up the mountain from Doolough before dawn.
“They work better on scent when there are fewer people around,” Mr Byrne said.
Hillwalking friends of the missing man and several local farmers also assisted in the search. Delphi Adventure Centre has been accommodating volunteers and providing meeting rooms.
Malin Coast Guard is co-ordinating the search and volunteers from Mourne and Glen of Imaal mountain rescue are expected to join the resumed effort today, along with Irish Mountaineering Club members from Dublin.
