The pair were rescued from their tent near Pikes Crag (centre)
Two walkers were rescued from a tent on England’s highest mountain.
Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team was alerted by police at 5.35pm yesterday, Thursday, when the pair called for help after getting lost on Scafell Pike.
A spokesperson for Wasdale MRT said: “After attempts to talk them off the mountain over the phone failed a full callout was made and a group of 12 rescuers and two search dogs went to find them and help them down.”
Rescuers found the walkers 870m (2,854ft) up on the fellside, wet and cold in a tent above Mickledore. The pair were near the top of Pikes Crag.
The walkers were given extra clothing to wear before they were walked down the fellside by the rescue team to Brackenclose in Wasdale.
A total of 19 team members were involved in the rescue, which lasted more than five hours. The rescue was the Wasdale team’s 31st of the year.
Derek
08 June 2012Two incompetents with a tent panic rather than get there heads down to rest and get off the hill the following day. They had lots of light (4 hours) and were equipped... 19 people scrambled to "escort" them off the hill, we have all had our moments on the hill, big thanks to the rescue team for your patience and dedication!
Rob
08 June 2012I don't know the full details of this rescue so I won't fully judge their situation however I've got to agree with Derek with the amount of time they had left!! Surely at 5.35pm at nearly the longest day of the year this was WAY too early to be calling for rescue... Especially since they had a tent with them?
The Piglit
08 June 2012"After attempts to talk them off the mountain over the phone failed......."
Oh please please Bob can you get the details of that conversation
Nick Owen
09 June 2012Having had many of those 'conversations' myself, I can assure you that they invoke the full range of human emotion... ranging from extreme amusement to head banging dispare ... You reach a point where you realise that no amount of encouragement, abuse, cajoling or otherwise is going to get them moving and it's quicker, simpler and more certain to go and get them.. It's true that usually circumstances are often not life threatening, but a sense of mercy overrides ... and they have your phone number and will ring it all night if you leave them there!
Nick Owen, Team Leader, Langdale / Ambleside MRT
Mick Graham
10 June 2012I regularly backpack in the lakes Wales and Scotland and now understand why I cant encourage my mate to leave his sleeping bag at a reasonable time so we can get going .... he must be frightened!
Stadler W
11 June 2012Was it a tent or a bothy bag? If it was a tent, surely they had sleeping bags etc with them and could have waited in it?
Pete
11 June 2012Panic does weird things to the human psyche. I was once benighted on Y Garn in North Wales with my extremely frightened then girlfriend. I had enough to experience to zone her out and got us down by taking a bearing on a streetlight in the Ogwen car park and creeping down the ridge. It took ages. As Nick says it was probably just easier to go and get them. They were stuck, and in distress, and who knows where they'd have finished up if they'd tried to walk down in a blue funk (probably the wrong end of Piers Gill). There but for the grace of god.
Ian Rudd
12 June 2012Although it is always dangerous to jump to conclusions without knowing the full story it they were able to navigate up with so much light I cannot see how they could not find their way down again. It appears that they had kit with them unless they fall into the "all the gear but no idea" brigade I cannot see why MR had to waste their time going to get them.