- Incident
- 145 in 2026
- Type
- — Injured & Medical
- Location
- Lords Rake, Scafell
- Other Agencies
- Coastguard, Cockermouth MRT, Cumbria Police, Duddon & Furness MRT, Rescue 897 from Carlisle
- Diagnosis
- Multiple Injuries
Tuesday night, Cumbria Police received a call from a member of the public who could hear shouting on the fells. No exact location — just a voice somewhere in the dark. Our team leader spoke with the informant, who gave a good description putting the sound south of his position, in the Lord’s Rake area. The shouted reply back confirmed a fall, with head, arm, back and leg injuries.
Wasdale deployed. Given the terrain and the rope rescue that would be needed, Duddon & Furness MRT were also called out, along with Coastguard helicopter R897. R897 initially hoped to carry out the rescue themselves, but low cloud made that impossible — they did manage to get eyes on the casualty and pass the location to teams on the ground. Eleven of our members were lifted up as close to the site as the weather allowed, along with 400m of rope, a crag set, vacuum mattress, casualty bag, stretcher and accessories, first aid kit and personal kit.
Once on scene, the team worked to pinpoint the casualty’s exact position so a rope rescue system could be built — a job that took considerable time, hampered further as extreme weather moved in. At 02:40, with both Wasdale and Duddon members tiring and the casualty still to be brought down, our team leader called in Cockermouth MRT for extra hands. They arrived just as the team was preparing to begin the descent.
The casualty was safely handed into the care of the ambulance service. Back at base, the team dried out kit and tucked into a well-earned bacon and sausage sandwich — with a few extra members turning out to reset the vehicles so those who’d just spent 13 hours on the hill could finally get some sleep.
Massive thanks to Duddon & Furness MRT, Cockermouth MRT, and Coastguard R897 for turning out in such extreme and difficult conditions. 🥪⛰️
Stay safe out there — and always let someone know your plans.
Incident started at 20:49 and ended at 09:38 making 12.8 hrs in total. There were 15 Wasdale team members involved and the incident occured at NY 20472 06889. Total rescuer hours: 192
