The walkers were found below Criscliffe Knotts, close to Piers Gill
A group of four walkers tackling the Three Peaks Challenge was rescued after getting lost in the dark on England’s highest mountain.
The walkers called for help in the early hours of Saturday and police requested a callout by Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.
The team leader attempted to determine where they were by talking to the walkers by phone, but when he was unable to pin down their position, the team was mobilised and mounted a search on Scafell Pike.
Fourteen team volunteers took part in the hunt for the four, who were found near the Corridor Route below Criscliffe Knotts. They were warmed up before rescuers escorted them back down to their vehicle in the valley below.
Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team released a YouTube video of the rescue showing the dire conditions on the fell and some of the less desirable effects of hundreds of challengers on Scafell Pike.
The rescue, which took more than eight hours, was the Wasdale team’s 36th of the year. The weeks around the summer solstice are traditionally the busiest for walkers attempting the Three Peaks Challenge as they use the maximum daylight hours in the ascent of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon.
Michael Fisher
25 June 2012With 406MHz Personal Locator Beacons, which call for help via a group of a dozen satellites, now being approved for land use in the UK, the whole operation to rescue these adventurers would have been reduced to a 'rescue' rather than 'search and rescue', saving a lot of time, and probably a lot of money.
Costing only around £225, a PLB like the FastFind would have alerted Mountain Rescue within minutes of being activated.
The sooner people wake up to the benefits of carrying a PLB whenever off the beaten track, the better.
Pete Underwood
25 June 2012I so agree with Michael Fisher above. I bought a FastFind for my lads before they did their D of E on Dartmoor. Two hundred quid for the level of security brought by a satellite PLB is a small price for the peace of mind it brings parents. It's worth checking out this website www.fastfindplb.com
Philip Whiteman
26 June 2012Do all MRTs / police areas use these locators?
Pete Underwood
27 June 2012As I understand it, when a 406MHz PLB is activated in the UK, the distress alert goes via satellite to RAF Kinloss in Scotland. Kinloss and/or the Falmouth Rescue Coordination Centre will then co-ordinate the appropriate response. They do the same if a ship or yacht is in trouble or if a plane crashes. They will bring in whatever is needed. In the mountains that'll be Mountain Rescue, but in the fields of Lincolnshire it's likely the local police.
Looking further afield, when a British-registered PLB is activated abroad, RAF Kinloss and/or Falmouth liaise with the rescue services in the country where the PLB has been activated.
Katie H
02 October 2012Learning how to navigate should come before a get out of jail free card (location device). Having treked across remote backs of beyong across the world where the time when your most likely to have an epic is actually when the vis drops to 0, the wind gets up, the snow comes down and a helicopter can't fly into the thick of it to Save your soul... well you work out your own issues with your term. People need to take more responsibility for themselves. A location devise does not reduce the call outs.
Margaret
02 February 2013Well said Katie.