Brown Cove, with Swirral Edge, linking Catstye Cam, left and the Helvellyn plateau

Brown Cove, with Swirral Edge, linking Catstye Cam, left and the Helvellyn plateau

Two walkers were injured in separate falls in the Lake District today, Saturday.

A 28-year-old man from Lancashire suffered a leg injury when he fell from Swirral Edge, Helvellyn. The man was with his partner and their two dogs when he fell into Brown Cove.

Eleven members of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team were airlifted by the Pride of Cumbria air ambulance, which was in the area, to the scene of the incident. The walker had suffered what a spokesperson for the team described as a ‘serious fracture dislocation to his right ankle’.

He was treated at the scene and given pain relief, then lowered by stretcher to the bottom of Brown Cove. Three members of the Penrith MRT then helped the Patterdale team carry the injured walker to the mountain rescue ambulance which met a road ambulance. The man was taken to Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle.

As the Patterdale team was assembling for the rescue, they were alerted by police to a second man who had fallen 120m (400ft) down a gully near Scrubby Crag on Fairfield, 4km (2½ miles) south-west from the first incident.

Four members of the team were flown by the air ambulance to where the man had fallen in Deepdale.

The 47-year-old man from Redcar, Cleveland, suffered hip, shoulder and arm injuries. He was treated at the scene by MRT members and air ambulance staff. He was placed on a stretcher and carried to the waiting air ambulance, which flew him to the Cumberland Infirmary.

The Lake District national park’s felltop assessors reported today that all paths on the range were iced up. Drifts up to a metre deep were likely to be encountered. Swirral Edge and Striding Edge both have plenty of snow on them, with their exits consisting of icy snow.

Soft windslab – favourite avalanche material – is mixed with firmer snow on east-facing slopes and the Helvellyn summit plateau has extensive cornicing.

The advice from the assessors, who make the journey to Helvellyn’s summit every day in winter to assess weather conditions, is that full winter gear is necessary.

They said: “For those going above the snowline, which is basically anyone attempting anything more than a lower level path, an ice axe and crampons- plus the knowledge of how to use them – are also essential to ensure safety.

“This is the case even if steep routes are not being attempted since many paths are covered by compacted snow and ice.”

They also caution against going on to the iced-up surface of Red Tarn and other stretches of water in the mountains because of the varying thickness of the ice.

However, they did praise walkers on the summit for being properly dressed and equipped today. The wind-chill on Helvellyn’s summit was -10.8C.

Further snowfalls are expected on the Lake District’s fells from about midday tomorrow, Sunday.

Lake District Weatherline