The man got stuck on scree above Greenside Mines. Photo: Bob Smith/grough
Rescuers in the Lake District were called out to rescue a man stuck on a fellside in flip-flops.
Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called out about 8.45pm on Thursday after reports a man was on a ledge overlooking Glenridding.
A team spokesperson said: “His exact location was somewhat vague until the local fire brigade who were out practising at the time reported that they had spotted the distressed man above Greenside Mines.”
The 47-year-old was on scree slopes above the youth hostel, on the lower slopes of the Helvellyn range.
The spokesperson said: “The team made their way to his location over difficult terrain, ensured the gentleman was safe and uninjured, then proceeded to rig a rope system to enable him to descend the fell.
“This was a challenging rescue and involved 11 members of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team and lasted for 3½ hours.”
The team added on social media: “We know the weather has been sunny and hot but there ain’t no beaches up there.”
Nigel
26 May 2017I'm not defend that, that's plain stupidity
Steve
28 May 2017Sometimes, one reads a report on this site and thinks that the subject is trying to qualify for the Darwin Awards. It is only the skills of the rescue teams that prevents successful qualification
Mike
29 May 2017What a d*ck. MR should have made him descend the scree barefoot as a punishment.
Wilf from Keswick
29 May 2017People with this level of stupidity should definitely be charged for being rescued.
Surely there was a time way before reaching point of needing rescued when his feet must have been killing him but he carried on regardless.
Peter
01 June 2017Flip flops? That's ridiculous, everyone knows espadrilles are this seasons must have mountain footwear.
OldManOfTheHills
05 June 2017Clear stupidity with the availability of suitable footwear, however I don't agree that such people should be charged. To start with the MRA has no ability to charge but more importantly if a distressed person delays calling out a rescue for fear of incurring a charge we might have a worse situation on our hands such as severe hypothermia of even fatality .
GavC
06 June 2017Charging for rescues is simply a non-starter and an increasingly common knee jerk reaction to the number of ill-prepared folk who persist in taking to the hills who get caught out! Many people would simply refuse rescue and what would happen then? Assuming the worst, would we leave their bodies out in the hills? Lochaber and the Cuillins, for example, could feasibly end up littered with corpses of unrescued climbers if this was to be the case! Achieving closure for bereaved families might see even more inexperienced folk out on the hills looking for lost loved ones! Whether rescues are ultimately charged for or not, accident victims simply as a matter of course would still have to recovered! I'd also infer that there is legal obligation on the police to search for missing people, whether in the hills or in urban areas?
Colin Benson
08 June 2017Yes, OK GavC, you’ve well and truly used the OTT method of telling everyone what they already know haven’t you. WOW, talk about looking at the worst case.
The thing is they should charge some of the stupid people. OK, OK, don't get upset, I know they can’t and for very good reasons that I agree with so yes, it’s never going to happen.
I don't think it is a knee jerk reaction it’s just an understandable way of putting across the frustration people who ‘do it properly’ have for the idiots with no respect for the outdoors or the rescue services that have to go and bail them out.