Canoe Accident Sparks Major Underground Rescue in Gwynedd Cave System
A dramatic canoe accident deep beneath the mountains of North Wales nearly turned tragic after two teenagers were stranded in an underground slate mine.
A routine adventure quickly spiralled into a life-threatening ordeal—highlighting the hidden dangers lurking below ground level.
“It’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to me in my life – ever,” said 15-year-old Josh, still shaken from the experience.
Josh had joined his friend Draigen and Draigen’s mum, Kate—an experienced outdoor enthusiast from Essex—for what was intended to be an adrenaline-fuelled exploration through a disused mine near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd.
The trio had carefully planned the trip, which included rope bridges, abseiling, zip lines, and a daunting canoe crossing over an icy, subterranean lake. The lake, 50 metres wide and plunging up to 60 metres deep, became the scene of the ordeal.
Draigen, in a moment of misjudgement, stepped onto an unstable section.
“I just stood on the wrong spot,” he explained. “It just sunk.” The canoe tipped, sending him waist-deep into freezing water. “I was panicking – I was struggling to climb back out.
All the rock was crumbling off the wall,” he recalled. “I was in the water for about a minute. It was freezing cold.”
Soaked and stranded on a rock ledge, Draigen was unable to reach his mother or friend. With no phone signal and dwindling options, Kate made the agonising call to leave both boys behind and head back through the winding tunnels to get help.
“That was one of the most difficult decisions I probably have made, I would say, in my lifetime,” she admitted. “I knew how scary that was going to be for them.”
She trekked for two and a half hours through the labyrinthine mine system before finally reaching the surface and raising the alarm.
The call triggered a swift response. The Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue Team worked above ground, while volunteers from the North Wales Cave Rescue Organisation descended into the depths.
Four tense hours later, the boys were finally located, cold but unharmed. “When I heard their voices – the relief I felt,” said Draigen, who was wrapped in warm clothes and given hot chocolate before being guided out.
Josh shared his emotional release: “I was so relieved, all the stress that had built up, just went.” Their first question? If Kate was alright. “I was so proud of them,” she said, her voice breaking.
The rescue teams praised the boys’ decision to stay put, a choice that made their operation far more effective. “We didn’t know if they were injured,” said Dave Evans from the Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue Team. “We were hoping that they’d stay… but they did. They did exactly what they were meant to do.”
The near-miss has reignited calls for better planning among adventure-seekers, especially as North Wales braces for the summer holiday crowds. Mountain rescue teams dealt with over 750 incidents last year, with more than 320 around Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) alone—the busiest in England and Wales.
“When you come to Wales, to Eryri, you plan your route, you’ve planned your vehicle, how much petrol you’ve got in your vehicle to get to north Wales,” said Evans.
“It’s no different when you come and set foot on the mountains of North Wales.”
Adventure, even underground, demands respect. This incident is a sobering reminder that preparation and quick thinking can make the difference between disaster and relief.
