Great Langdale. Photo: Rich Barrett-Small

Walkers heading for the Lakeland fells next weekend will face a checkpoint to ensure they have the correct gear.

But organisers promise no-one will be stopped from going on to the hills, even if they are ill prepared. The exercise will remind hillwalkers they should go properly equipped as winter approaches.

Members of Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team will be on hand at the Stickle Barn car park in Great Langdale, to offer advice, check kit and draw attention to the changing conditions.

Leader Nick Owen said: “The purpose will be to highlight the onset of winter, the potential worsening of weather conditions, earlier sunset and the need to be prepared for the conditions likely to be encountered during a day out in the hills.

“The team has seen a 15 per cent increase in callouts in 2009, with other MRTs in the region ‘enjoying’ up to 60 per cent increase in incidents. There is an alarming increase in the number of ill equipped and ill prepared people going onto the hill.”

The Langdale and Ambleside MRT’s 35 members have dealt with 98 incidents this year, in the Langdale area and the fells around Grasmere and Ambleside. Crinkle Crags are a favourite spot for callouts according to Mr Owen – ‘popular place for getting lost’.

The checkpoint will operate on Saturday, 24 October, from 8am to 10.30am, the peak time for walkers setting off for the hills.

Mr Owen stresses the team is there to help. “We will not prevent anyone from actually going,” he said, “No matter how ill prepared they may be, but will offer friendly advice.”

He admits some may not take the advice kindly. However, he said: “We would rather spend five minutes talking to them there, rather than three hours searching for them.”

The target for the exercise is not the seasoned hillwalker who carries the right equipment and has the experience for coping on the fells, but the less prepared hiker who may not be aware of just what walkers need for a winter trip to the mountains of the Lake District.

Common items missing from some walkers’ rucksacks are: compasses, maps, torches, whistles and waterproof trousers.

The team will have some of these available for sale at the checkpoint, provided by the Climbers Shop in Ambleside.

Landowners, the National Trust, which owns the car park at Stickle Barn, and Cumbria Constabulary are all backing the event.

Last winter, the team put up warning notices at the approach paths to popular routes after a series of fatal accidents in the Lake District, including on Bowfell at the head of Langdale and on Pavey Ark, above Saturday’s checkpoint. The warnings led to a drop in callouts for the Langdale team, which had dealt with ten incidents in one week