Author Topic: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist  (Read 2609 times)

GnP

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"The four men thought they were at the Old Man of Coniston in the Lake District on Saturday but were more than a mile away (1.6km) at Great How.

It prompted a three-and-a-half hour rescue operation ".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-55293584
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

pdstsp

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #1 on: 18:36:21, 13/12/20 »
Lucky boys, there's some difficult ground round there!


Reminds me of a day a couple of years ago when I met a group of young lads on Great Gable who thought they were on Scafell Pike.

GnP

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #2 on: 18:54:22, 13/12/20 »
Red faces all round maybe ..I think of those times I have wondered if I am where I think I am , at the start of a walk , or even in the middle of one..or if you are leading a walk with all that distracting chatter going on in the background .. ???
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #3 on: 19:57:55, 13/12/20 »
I suppose that is where GPS is an advantage, although I have never used it. I have believed I have arrived at an intended summit in thick mist only to find out later that I was premature.  It sometimes takes a while to realise that the terrain on the bearing being followed doesn’t match what is on the map. I haven’t managed to get onto a completely different hill a mile away though.

veracocha

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #4 on: 20:03:55, 13/12/20 »
My fear of getting lost is matched by my fear of calling out MR if I were in such a situation. I store so much faith in the trackback facility of Garmin I have it available on my watch and handheld GPS and never venture out without both.

GnP

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #5 on: 20:09:26, 13/12/20 »
I haven’t managed to get onto a completely different hill a mile away though.
Ha , yes indeed that takes some doing ... ???
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

richardh1905

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #6 on: 20:37:05, 13/12/20 »
I recall one of my university mountaineering club meets at Wasdale, a couple of members contrived to come down the wrong side of Scafell in the mist, and ended up spending the night in Eskdale! They did have the presence of mind to ring the Wasdale Head Inn to let us know.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

Ridge

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #7 on: 20:52:16, 13/12/20 »
So easy to go the wrong way in poor visibility and then convince yourself that what little you can see ties in with the map.

forgotmyoldpassword

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #8 on: 21:16:09, 13/12/20 »
Especially easy in the winter months when a bit of cold mixed with weather fronts can leave you disorientated, mildly hypothermic and with zero visual cues.  Seems to happen most often in an area with many false summits - realistically there is little you can do to pre-empt that other than try to pace distances out and that isn't something you often do over large distances without quite a discrepancy.  I remember a particular trip when I was at a summit plateau in gale force winds, mislocated, barely able to get the map out and freezing cold - quite the experience when boundaries on the map weren't present on the ground and I was feeling myself become colder.  Not fun but a good learning experience.

Best solution to this is practicing navigation at night in those areas, trust your map, get used to using contours to navigate and bearings and you'll be confident regardless of the weather.  Get used to turning your back to the wind to navigate, manage yourself well without losing kit.

My fear of getting lost is matched by my fear of calling out MR if I were in such a situation. I store so much faith in the trackback facility of Garmin I have it available on my watch and handheld GPS and never venture out without both.


Fact of the matter is everyone gets lost at some point, whether they own up to it or not.  Once you accept you're mislocated, either pick a massive catchment feature or return to the last known point.  It's often far easier than trying to blindly 'hit' a track intersection or similar when you're relying on blind luck. 


And lastly, always call out MR if you feel a situation is slipping away from you, the earlier the better.  Speaking as someone who is likely sent out to get you we'd rather have a limited callout involving a few team members to aid someone down a hill whilst they're conscious, warm and uninjured ... than a full team callout in the middle of the night involving a missing person in a vague location who potentially fell off something which may involve search dogs, yomping ropes and rigging kit, a stretcher and leaving me shattered for work the next day.


« Last Edit: 10:56:59, 14/12/20 by forgotmyoldpassword »

photonut

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #9 on: 09:08:26, 14/12/20 »
I was on the Coniston Fells on Saturday... I walked past Great How too.


I didn't see or hear anyone until into the afternoon (ascending Wetherlam), but the cloud was rather dense.  In many places the visibilty was down to 20 to 25m at times


..oh and wazzing it down  ::)
« Last Edit: 09:12:50, 14/12/20 by photonut »

pdstsp

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #10 on: 09:34:43, 14/12/20 »
I was on the Coniston Fells on Saturday... I walked past Great How too.


I didn't see or hear anyone until into the afternoon (ascending Wetherlam), but the cloud was rather dense.  In many places the visibilty was down to 20 to 25m at times


..oh and wazzing it down  ::)


Surprised you got down in one piece, Lee  ;D ;D

photonut

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #11 on: 09:46:19, 14/12/20 »
Occasionally miracles do happen  :)


Was the ascent/ descent of Black Crag squishy?
« Last Edit: 10:11:24, 14/12/20 by photonut »

pdstsp

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #12 on: 10:22:38, 14/12/20 »
Actually it was ok - most of the water was running down the tracks! The herd of belted galloways that are always in the area looked very sorry for themselves.

photonut

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #13 on: 11:07:09, 14/12/20 »
Those 'belties' around Iron Keld?  The ones that some days really do have an attitude problem - that flatly refuse to budge and force you to walk in the goo

pdstsp

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Re: Rescue as group walked wrong Lake District fell in mist
« Reply #14 on: 11:34:53, 14/12/20 »
That's the ones - on Saturday they just looked bedraggled.  I am sure they'll remember that they owe me a detour next time I'm in the area.

 

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