- Incident
- 152 in 2025
- Type
- Full Callout — Injured & Medical
- Location
- Lingmell Col, Scafell Pike
- Weather
- Cold, Rain, Windy
- Other Agencies
- Cockermouth MRT, Cumbria Police, Duddon & Furness MRT
- Diagnosis
- Leg Injury
- Tagged
- Weather Warning
The Team Leader was awoken by an alert from Cumbria Police early last Sunday morning, shortly after an Amber rain warning had been issued. A walker in a party of three had sustained an injury to his leg and could not make any further progress. As they were high up in torrential rain and high winds, they were all becoming very cold, with waterproof clothing failing them.
An immediate full callout was made, and the advance party arrived at the location with shelter, first aid, and warm clothing. Once on scene the injured walker was assessed and the whole party was rewarmed in the team shelter and made safe in very challenging conditions. Unfortunately, even after pain relief the injured walker was unable to walk off and so a stretcher carry was required. Additional support was requested from our neighbouring teams at Duddon and Furness MRT and Cockermouth MRT, with 13 extra pairs of boots on the ground in total.
Due to the ongoing deluge of rain and strong winds (>60mph), an alternative descent was required as normal routes were too dangerous. Additional Wasdale team members identified the safest stretcher route (left of Lingmell Gill). The two uninjured walkers were escorted off by three team members via Sty Head back to Wasdale, the safest walking route due to the extreme conditions).
We hope the three walkers recover quickly from their experiences and are wiser for it. Huge thanks go to both Duddon and Furness and Cockermouth MRTs for turning out in what a very experienced team member described as ‘the wettest he had ever seen Scafell Pike’. Unfortunately, during the course of the rescue, one of the Duddon and Furness MRT team members also slipped, injured his knee, and had to walk slowly off the fell. We hope he also recovers soon and can resume fell duty.
Incident started at 01:32 and ended at 12:12 making 10.7 hrs in total. There were 13 Wasdale team members involved and the incident occured at NY 211076. Total rescuer hours: 139
