- Incident
- 108 in 2013
- Type
- Full Callout — Overdue
- Location
- Upper Eskdale
- Other Agencies
- Keswick MRT, Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs
We were called by Cumbria Police at 21:47 about a man in his mid-60s reported overdue by the hotel where he was staying. It was known he’d started at Seathwaite in Borrowdale but unclear exactly where he had gone but thought most likely to be Scafell Pike. This led to a major search of the approaches to Scafell Pike on all sides of the mountain involving Keswick team and the Lake District Search Dogs. The man was found around 03:00 at the bottom of the Esk Hause path in upper Eskdale, around NY 2295 0705. He’d become disoriented on his descent from Scafell Pike, then overtaken by darkness and decided to make an impromptu bivvy. He was unhurt but cold / tired. After some rewarming he was walked back to Taw House Farm in Eskdale. The conditions on the mountain were very difficult with strong winds and heavy rain leading to very wet conditions underfoot. Once back in Eskdale there will still problems getting out of the valley due to flooding. Incident eventually closed 09:00. 16 Wasdale plus Keswick plus Search Dogs involved.
Incident started at 21:50 and ended at 09:00 making 11.2 hrs in total. There were 16 Wasdale team members involved and the incident occured at NY 2295 0705 (altitude 503 m). Total rescuer hours: 179
