- Incident
- 15 in 2006
- Type
- Callout — Overdue
- Location
- Pillar
- Other Agencies
- Cockermouth MRT
The Team committee were paged by the police to respond to a call for assistance on Pillar. Two male walkers in their 40’s had phoned a local pub in Gosforth at 8.15 p.m. to advise that they were just about to descend off Pillar. They had not turned up later so the pub had contacted the police. After a few enquiries a full team callout was made along with a request for support from Cockermouth MRT. Weather conditions were extreme on the ridges with very poor visibility, high winds and driving rain. Approximately 20 Wasdale team members were involved in the search and a small Cockermouth contingent investigating the Ennerdale side. The two walkers had not been located by 4:00 hrs when the search groups came together on the summit of Pillar. The groups decided to wait until first light which was around 5:45 hrs so bivvied down behind the summit cairn. At around 5:30 hrs the two missing walkers managed to get a mobile phone signal and made contact with the team. They were safe and well and had bivvied out 300 meters from the summit. Once the missing walkers and the search groups had met up with each other, the team returned to Wasdale Head via Black Sail pass along with the two walkers. The incident was eventually closed at around 8:00 hrs
Incident started at 00:04 and ended at 08:00 making 7.9 hrs in total. There were 20 Wasdale team members involved. Total rescuer hours: 158
