Piers Gill, Scafell Pike – Fri 30th Dec 2011

Incident

107 in 2011

Type

Full Callout — Overdue

Location

Piers Gill, Scafell Pike

Other Agencies

Duddon & Furness MRT, HMS Gannet, Lake District Mountain Rescue Search Dogs, RAF MRT

Whilst rescuing the injured dog and its owner, the team were called out by the police to search for a 19 year old fell walker who had last been seen around Piers Gill at about 15:00. Descending from Scafell Pike he had become separated from his companion who had descended and then raised the alarm.

In heavy rain and poor visibility around 20 team members were joined by Duddon and Furness MRT searching both sides of Piers Gill as well as other paths around the area. By 22:30 nothing had been found and the search was called off until daylight on Saturday.

On Saturday morning, 28 members of Wasdale MRT, 15 members of Duddon and Furness MRT, 24 members of the RAF MRT, 4 search dogs and their handlers from SARDA (Lakes) and a Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet returned to search in daylight. Although low cloud prevented the Sea King from supporting the search. Around 70 personnel were involved in this extensive search.

Sadly, at around 11:45 a body was discovered in Piers Gill by Wasdale team members. This was recovered to Wasdale Head. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his friends and family.