Quote Originally Posted by islaydarkblue View Post
Golfers do not get lost on a golf course whilst some hill walkers manage to get lost on the Scottish mountains requiring mountain rescue teams to go out looking for them.
There is also a considerable expense to the public purse if RAF helicopters have to be used looking for these missing hill walkers.
I cannot see the point of hill walking in Scotland. When you reach the top of a hill in Scotland there is a higher one in the distance. Unless of course you are climbing Ben Nevis which is a mountain.
Oh, you think hill walkers only walk up hills? What's the difference between a hill and a mountain anyway? Is Ben Nevis the only mountain in Scotland? If Ben Nevis is a mountain what's Ben Vrackie? A hump? A tiny sticky out bit? a rolling high land?

I suggest you research hills and hill walking. I can help with that research because you don't seem to be very good at researching.

On a more serious note, of course people get lost in the remote areas of Scotland - same as they do in the remote areas of any country. The weather turns very quickly in the mountains (sorry hills) and inexperienced or poorly prepared people can become disorientated. However part of the hobby is the planning and preparation; get that right and it's unlikley you'll get lost. I'm from the generation that can plan and prepare but then I know lots of people from 18 to 80 who do hill walking and can also plan and prepare - must all be from the same generation I guess.

When you reach the top of a hill in Scotland you get one of three things. You get wet because you're in cloud and can see nothing, you get fantastic views because there are no clouds or you get stunning views because you're above the clouds. The fact that there's another mountain to climb after that one is half the point. A bit like golf, you knock the ball into one hole with your stick then there's another hole for you to knock your ball into with your stick another 200 yards away - what fun.

People pay into the public purse so that services like SAR can be made available to them when they're needed so any argument that a helicopter is a considerable cost to the public purse is moot because without us, the public, there is no helicopter. I know plenty people who have needed air lifted out of the mountains due to bad luck and injury. Helicopters do sometimes help search for missing hill walkers but by the time the helicopter is required it's fair to assume the missing person or people have had an accident and are unable to find their own way home. That's what we pay into the public purse for - it's not called Search And Rescue for nothing is it?