- Incident
- 6 in 2009
- Type
- Limited Callout — Lost
- Location
- Other Location
Cumbria police received a ‘999’ call from a lady on a mobile phone requesting help but before the message or her details could be taken the line went dead. The ‘999’ signal had been picked up by the mobile phone mast near Holmrook / Gosforth so the Wasdale team were alerted by the police. A limited group were gathered to assess the situation and be ready to respond with a full callout as soon as more information became available. Car parks were checked by team members for the ‘mobile phone’ owner’s cars but no cars were found in either the Wasdale / Eskdale area. The police carried out further work to try and get a better fix on the signal. Eventually the Police established that the phone signal had also been picked up by the Barrow mast which indicated perhaps Harter Fell direction. Finally the lady who made the call contacted the police to advise she and her friend were safely off the fell and heading back to Carnforth. 10 team members were on standby / checking car parks – incident closed at around 5.30 p.m.That evening, the team received a thank you email from the lady who explained that the weather deteriorated and her friend did not think she would be able to continue to walk as she had fallen a number of times in the wind. However when her phone stopped working (the battery failed), they both knew we needed to keep going so they made their way down slowly. They were on Swirl Howe on the back path heading towards Coniston Old Man.
Incident started at 13:29. There were 17:30 Wasdale team members involved and the incident occured at NY 27315 00534 (altitude 780 m).
