The walkers went astray while heading for Pen-y-ghent. Photo: Bob Smith/grough
Two walkers attempting the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge were rescued after getting lost in the dark.
The pair called for help from the slopes of Pen-y-ghent after previously summiting Ingleborough and Whernside on Sunday.
Police alerted the Cave Rescue Organisation about 9.30pm. A team spokesperson said delays in their walk earlier in the day meant they were approaching their final peak at dusk.
“After it became dark they reported themselves lost and described being beside a wall, in a boggy area, with the summit of Pen-y-ghent on their left hand side,” the spokesperson said.
Attempts by the police and the CRO to pinpoint the walkers’ location using mobile phone apps were unsuccessful.
The spokesperson said: “One of the walkers was able to send a screenshot from their phone which showed a vague map illustrating their approximate location. CRO mobilised a small search party and found the lost walkers by a field boundary near to Hull Pot Beck.
“In the dark, the walkers had strayed quite a way off the usual Three Peaks route. The walkers were escorted to a CRO vehicle and taken down to Horton in Ribblesdale.”
The CRO spokesperson said the two walkers were well equipped and had spent time trying to get themselves to safety before deciding it was best to call for help.
They then helped rescuers find them by staying in their position.
The spokesperson said: “Hopefully their next endeavours at the Three Peaks will be a little less eventful. Our best wishes from all of the team.”
Jim firth
19 September 2019Having done the 3 peaks first when I was 13 with the school, and several times since, I can't believe the idiots who attempt to do it now without proper equipment and leaving plenty of time to complete.
Anthony Franks
19 September 2019Well let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to you as no matter how prepared you are the landscape is an ever changing environment. You have to factor in many variables when on such terrain.
Many old timers like myself rely to much on map reading skills and not technology which is not always the answer.
Susan Croft
19 September 2019Jim Firth, the article does actually state that they were well equipped, so I don't think calling them idiots because they got into difficulties is a very fair comment.
MikeV
19 September 2019#Anthony Franks "Many old timers like myself rely to much on map reading skills and not technology which is not always the answer."
I don't understand the logic of your statement?
Anyone with a map, a compass, (and good old fashioned map reading skills to use them correctly) can safely navigate through any type of terrain without getting lost. - even in the dark if they have adequate torches/headlamps.
I'm an old timer myself, with years of map and compass work behind me. and getting inextricably lost just doesn't happen when you use map and compass correctly.
Nowadays, I mostly use GPS for its sheer convenience, but I always carry map & compass as back-up, and keep a close weather eye on where I am in relation to surrounding landmarks in case the GPS should pack up.
Technology is great, and I readily concede that it is much more convenient than using map and compass. - But - technology can and does fail. - Witness the fact that neither the Police nor the Cave Rescue Organisation's team could get a fix on the lost walkers location by using mobile phone apps.
Assuming that these "well equipped" walkers had adequate clothing for the conditions, then if they also had map & compass and skills to use them, or indeed a working GPS, there should have been no real need to call for assistance.
I would always subscribe to the "better safe than sorry" argument, and it is good that they were found and escorted to safety.- But really? - if these walkers had had the correct equipment for navigating, and the skills to use it, whether it be map and compass or modern technology, then It should have been no more than a case of simply navigating their own way off the hill in the dark.
P Montgomery.
19 September 2019I agree. It doesn't matter how experienced you are,. Sometimes you just don't get it right.