Rugby players rescued from Cader Idris during Welsh Three Peaks challenge

The group was taking part in a Wales Three Peaks challenge, prompting volunteer rescuers to suggest raising money for one charity could be placing a burden on another.

An emergency call was made to Aberdyfi Search and Rescue at 11.30pm on Saturday by the party who started climbing Cader Idris at 2.30pm after scaling Snowdon in the early hours.

However after reaching the summit, a combination of poor weather, encroaching darkness and navigational errors took the group away from the intended route and on to the steep crags above Cwm Cau.

While some of the group tried to find a way down, others called for help from mountain rescue.

Call-handlers were able to pinpoint the group's location amongst the crags using smartphone GPS and the group was directed to retrace their steps up the steep ground to the plateau above, then move to intercept a fence line which would mark the safer way down from Mynydd Moel.

A small party of volunteers was dispatched up the hill to provide extra lighting and assistance as the group made their way off the mountain.

Tired after around 20 hours on the go, the walkers were otherwise unharmed, and everyone was safely off the hill by 2:30am.

"Charity challenges such as the Welsh 3 Peaks can be great when things go well" said Graham O'Hanlon of the mountain rescue team.

"However, being established 'challenges' can create the impression that they are somehow safer or need less preparation than a normal day on the mountains, and can encourage the participation of people without much or any hillwalking experience or skills.

" The diary pressures of organising group activities can lead to groups taking to the hills in unsuitable weather conditions, and the time pressures and fatigue of challenges like the three peaks can encourage groups to be working in the dark and to press on into a worse situation rather than retrace the route back to the last good position, particularly if this means going back uphill."

"Charities such as our Rescue Team depend entirely on donations, and so depend heavily on the work of fundraisers such as these walkers. However, we would ask would-be fundraiser looking at challenges like this to consider whether collecting money for one charity whilst placing a burden of time and resources on another is actually fundraising at all."

It comes after two groups were rescued from the same mountain last weekend, including one which had also been attempting the Three Peaks of Wales challenge.