1. Whitehaven - Limited Callout - 12:08 Thu 2nd Jan 2025

A short ambulance assist was required for a man who had fallen and sustained a broken leg whilst visiting a cemetery in Whitehaven. The North West Ambulance Service team was on scene but needed some help for the transfer to the ambulance. A limited callout was made and some local team members attended direct with others ready at base if further team equipment or people were needed. However, the extra help at base was not needed and the transfer to the ambulance was completed quickly under the direction of NWAS. We wish the man a speedy recovery.

 

2. Upper Eskdale - Full Callout - 09:23 Sun 5th Jan 2025

An alert was received this morning from Cumbria Police about a party of five walkers who were reporting themselves close to hypothermia. The information came via an iPhone emergency satellite message so further information was initially quite limited. Helpfully an exact location was obtained, although this was in a remote area in Upper Eskdale. Further information received via another message indicated that one person was also ill, and another had injured his ankle. They had misnavigated off Scafell Pike summit, attempting to return to Seathwaite. The Team Leader swiftly made a full callout and asked an advance party of two to make their way as quickly as possible to the location. A Coastguard helicopter from Prestwick (Rescue 199) also responded quickly. The assumption at this stage was that the walkers had been lost since the previous afternoon. Further iPhone emergency messages indicated the party was moving down the valley towards the road, although for a time it was unclear whether this was the whole group or just one or two people. Thankfully the advance party had not travelled too far when they met up with the party of five walking out. All were safe and able to complete the journey to the road and then to a local hostelry, where they could organise a taxi back to Borrowdale. The debrief ascertained that the group had set off from North Yorkshire at midnight, arrived at Seathwaite and then set off on their walk at 4am. They had made the summit of Scafell Pike but then found themselves in Upper Eskdale; cold, wet and concerned for their safety. They were not equipped properly for full winter conditions on the high fells, and were also inexperienced. At times they were waist deep in snow. To their credit, they fully acknowledged their misjudgment in this attempt and were humble and thankful for the help, fully aware this could have ended with a much worse outcome. Thanks again to the support from Coastguard helicopter Rescue199.

 

3. Scafell Pike - Alert - 20:52 Mon 6th Jan 2025

A call was received from Cumbria Police from a relative of a lone walker. He had not been in contact for over 24 hours, having known to have been on Scafell Pike on Sunday morning. He had subsequently sent a video from an unknown location at 2pm. Once the video was reviewed, it was possible that it was taken from the Rosset Gill area and as such our neighbours at Langdale Ambleside MRT were asked for their opinion. However, shortly afterwards there was another call from the informant saying that the walker was safe and well and on his way home. This news was very gratefully received by both teams and the log closed.

 

4. Birker Fell - Limited Callout - 22:32 Thu 9th Jan 2025

A call was received from Cumbria Police to assist with helping a stranded motorist off Birker Fell and back to safe ground after a road traffic accident. A limited callout was made to take a team 4x4 vehicle to the scene and assist, however a team member in the valley was able to get to the location quickly and provide assistance to walk off.

 

5. Hollowstones, Scafell Pike - Alert - 18:06 Sun 12th Jan 2025

A call was received from Cumbria Police about two walkers who were reported as being lost in the snow. They had reported this to friends who had then called the police when they became overdue. Happily, as the Team Leader was gathering information and considering calling the team out, another call was taken by the police confirming they had made it safely down to the valley and were at their vehicle.

 

6. Corridor Route, Scafell Pike - Full Callout - 18:12 Sat 18th Jan 2025

A call was received on Saturday evening about two walkers who had mis-navigated away from the Corridor Route aiming for Borrowdale and were concerned for their safety. A location was obtained from the initial police call. The Team Leader was able to contact the walkers and ensure that they were confident to stay in their current location and wait for the team. An advance party including Jess, our search dog, was tasked in advance of the first team vehicle. Four legs proved better than two, with Jess making a find and directing the rescuers to the two cold walkers. A careful route was then taken down some fairly steep terrain before completing an uneventful walk back to Gavel Neese. The walkers took a taxi ride back to Seathwaite before the team stood down after resetting the vehicles. (Huge thanks too for the Burnthwaite Farm brownies fresh out of the oven for the advance party)  

 

7. Upper Eskdale - Alert - 20:07 Sat 18th Jan 2025

During callout 6, five inexperienced walkers were reported overdue by their friend after setting off for an impromptu walk up Scafell and Scafell Pike from Upper Eskdale. Most team members deployed for the ongoing callout in Wasdale were asked to hold for possible redeployment and additional team members were also asked for their availability. However, shortly after this another call was received, confirming that the party had just returned safe and well to a local hostelry, so the log was closed.