Mogrim, that's interesting, I just know about the Basque Country. Fron what I've heard they err on the side of people not paying. I've heard about a few bikers being helped and there was no question of them being charged. The other side of it though is that most people who use the hills here carry a membership of a mountain club and that includes insurance incase you are charged. I don't know how much of the money from the membership gets back to the mountain rescue but some of it must.
I'm not sure which way is best but I hate to hear of people abusing the mountain rescue like described above. I actually wonder if the martial artists could be charged legally though, it sounds like they carried this guy halfway up and then left him against his wishes. He was being helped by other walkers when mountain rescue arrived, NOT by the MA's. There's a thread on UKClimbing.
