- Incident
- 2 in 2004
- Type
- Callout — Lost
- Location
- Allen Crags
- Other Agencies
- Keswick MRT, Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs, Langdale Ambleside MRT
The Wasdale Team Leader was called by the police at 1730 hrs. following a ‘999’ mobile phone call from four male walkers in their forties. They were lost on the ridge following their return from doing Scafell Pike and just ‘needed some directions’. They had set off that day from Seathwaite. When questioned on the phone it became obvious to the team leader that they probably were not calling from the Scafell Pike area (later that evening, following more questioning, it became more obvious that they were nowhere near Scafell Pike). They were asked to retrace their steps back to Styhead stretcher box (the last real landmark they were sure of). They tried but said they were stuck with steep crags all around. At this point (1850 hrs) the decision was made to call out the Wasdale team (18 members), the Keswick team (18 members), the Langdale & Ambleside team (6 members, the SARDA dog handlers (8 dogs).They were eventually found by Keswick team members on the summit of Allen Crags, to the north east of Esk Hause, and nowhere near Scafell Pike. This was now 2330 hrs and weather conditions were severe with high winds. One team member was blown off his feet whilst tracking using his GPS which was also blown away and smashed.[If lessons are to be learned from such an incident it would be the importance of good navigation skills and knowing when to start using them. Once started, to keep on using the map and compass to verify your location on a regular if not continuous basis].
Incident started at 17:30. There were 18 Wasdale team members involved.
