Yesterday, I saw someone fall...

...okay, not strictly true, it was Stephen's Day, but I am cutting and pasting this from mountainviews.ie where a couple of people said it was a good warning, so though it might be of some relevance here too.

Yesterday I saw someone fall, and it was a shocking sight.

What was as scary as the sight was the location. Was descending the lower reaches of Hungry Hill, on a grassy rocky gently sloping field, no cliffs, no obvious drop. And one of the party lost her footing. But instead of simply falling over, she started to slide on the wet grass, and gathered speed until she was bouncing into the air, spinning and screaming and hitting rocks and boulders, she fell 30m or so before landing in a rocky stream. Had a first aid kit, but even as I tried to get to her my footing went and I slid about 5m. Got to her, expecting the worst, but she was conscious and miraculously no broken limbs. Lots of blood from her gashed head, and swelling around the jaw, cheeks, eyes etc. One of the group was a very experienced Alpine climber who reacted very quickly. So apart from a few scars she came out of it remarkably well.

As I think about it, what was really sobering was the location, it looked so...harmless. A grassy field. I would have run down it without a thought. So please people, be careful out there.

apoeiguq3094y

I've found that waterproof trousers make things a lot worse. It turns you into an involuntary sled. planting your foot sideways on the slope can give a bit better grip and a hiking pole gives that extra bit of stability.

sheesh

wasn't there a group coming down carrantuohill a few years ago and someone slipped like that and knocked 2 others down as well which resulted in fatalities. scary stuff

Conmaicne Mara

Persistent rain, time of year, the ground is like a bloody bottle. Never mind the hills, I've fallen a few times on my own farm this year. (I say "this year", ye know what I mean, not the few days of 2013 lol)

Gillo

+1 for poles, I've a bad knee so use them to take some of the strain off it but the extra stabilitiy is brilliant.