Wastl Mariner was an Austrian mountaineer of some repute, who in 1948, produced probably the first ever comprehensive mountain rescue handbook, initially in his native German and later (1963) in English. His first book had diagrams/drawings of the Mariner Stretcher which indicates it was designed/created before 1948 though we’ve been unable to find any information about its evolution. The bow shaped bed and leg supports(see diagram) were considered the best way to transport casualties for many years, and there is plenty of medical evidence to support the theory, though 99% of modern mountain rescue stretchers employ a flat bed. This particular stretcher was at Glenmore Lodge(Scotlands National Outdoor Centre in Aviemore) for many years and was used extensively on their mountain rescue training courses in the 1950’s and 60’s as well as on real rescues in the Cairngorms. We seem to have lost the wheel somewhere along the way, otherwise it’s in remarkably good condition for its age and probably one of the few left in the world. The stretcher was part of an array of mountain rescue equipment put together by Wastl Mariner and the Austrian Alpine Club under the aegis of IKAR(International Kommittee on Alpine Rescue) in the 1940’s and 50’s. We are fortunate in having nearly all of those items in our collection( see related items) and even a ‘grainy ‘ old film (now on DVD) showing how to use it.