A CLIMBER who was knocked unconscious after falling around 20 feet near Penmorfa has thanked the mountain rescuers who rushed to her aid.

Ruth Ashton was climbing Craig y Gesail with her husband Rick on the afternoon of Sunday, 28 August, when she slipped and, because she was not wearing a helmet, injured her head which led to her being knocked unconscious.

The experienced climber from Manchester luckily was saved from plummeting to the bottom of the rock by a narrow ledge below her.

She said: “I’m not 100 per cent sure what happened, but I think my foot must have slipped on some wet rock and I fell off.

“I was probably around 35 feet off the ground. I bashed into some rock on the way down which knocked me unconscious, but I was only out for around 10 minutes.

“Luckily I didn’t have a head injury, just a small cut which was repaired with glue at the hospital.

Mountain rescuer Gethin Edwards abseiled down to Ruth to treat her.

The injured climber was then winched from the crag and taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd. A rope rescue system was also used to raise her husband back to the top of the crag.

Ruth has praised the team who came to her aid and has stressed their value to the climbing community.

She said: “I was rescued and taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd within half an hour; I cannot thank the team of mountain rescuers and the rescue helicopter enough for all they did for me.

“They are such a dedicated team and are so valuable for the climbing community.”

Read the full story in today’s Arfon/Dwyfor edition of the Cambrian News