On Wednesday 14/12/22 at around 1400hrs the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team received a call with regard to a lone walker who had slipped on ice and felt dizzy afterwards. The Team was already dealing with another incident at the time. It was quickly established that the man was on a path coming down from Hartsop above How Fell.

Three team members made their way to the area and met the walker in Cowbridge carpark. The walker was fine and had bruised his knee after the fall and had then managed to walk down himself. No further action was required and the rest of the team were stood down.

On Wednesday 14th December at 12.35hrs the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was requested by Cumbria Police to attend a woman who had slipped on an icy path whilst descending Gowbarrow after setting off from Aira Force with a walking group. The Duty leader called out the Team and 9 members attended where they were able to drive a Landrover near to the casualty site then made their way on foot for the final stretch.

The lady was treated for a suspected fractured ankle, placed on a stretcher and sledged down to the roadside where she was then conveyed to the group’s transport back at Aira Force. The lady was then taken to hospital for further treatment. The rescue took around 3 hours in total .

On Sunday 27th November at around 16:30 hrs Cumbria Police requested the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team’s assistance for a woman who had slipped and sustained a leg injury. She had been walking in the Grisedale Valley, descending from Birks towards Patterdale.

The Deputy Leader contacted the casualty’s colleagues and, due to the nature of the suspected injury from the description given, a Coastguard Rescue Helicopter was requested for a quick evacuation. Team members were quickly at the scene and the lady was given pain relief by Team Doctors as she was in considerable pain. Her leg was put in a splint and she was then placed onto a stretcher ready for the Helicopter to lift her.

As the Coastguard Helicopter arrived the weather turned to heavy rain and poor visibility forcing the aircraft to hold off in the valley bottom for a while. Through some excellent flying the pilots eventually managed to get to the scene and winched the casualty on board and she was then flown to hospital for further treatment.

The team thanks the Coastguard for their assistance in the rescue, seventeen team members attended the incident which took just over 3 hours.

At 12:57 on Monday 17th Oct 2022, Patterdale MRT was alerted by Cumbria Constabulary that a 70 year old man from the South East had slipped on wet grass near to the summit of Hallin Fell, injuring his left ankle. Eight Team members responded to the call out and rendezvoused at Pooley Bridge before proceeding in Team vehicles to the Hause beneath Hallin Fell and then ascending to the summit.

The casualty was assessed by a Team doctor and his ankle was splinted before he was placed in a stretcher and sledged down to the church. The casualty was driven to Penrith Hospital in his own car by his partner. The Team would like to thank Penrith MRT who mobilised 4 Team members to offer support which was not eventually required.

The rescue involved 8 team members and took approximately 2.5 hours.

At 1pm on Saturday 15th October, Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called to attend a woman with an ankle injury on Heron Pike, one of the fells overlooking Ullswater. As team members were assembling for this incident, a second call came in.

Due to the potential serious nature of that incident, the team asked for assistance from Penrith Mountain Rescue Team to handle the Heron Pike callout. The Penrith Team, assisted by members from the Kirkby Stephen Team, reached the woman with the ankle injury on Heron Pike. She was placed in a stretcher and carried back to the valley to rendezvous with an ambulance at Glencoyne.

As team members were assembling for another incident, a second call came in, alerting the team to a 24 year old man who had fallen off Striding Edge, Helvellyn. Due to the potential serious nature of the Helvellyn incident, the team asked for assistance from Penrith Mountain Rescue Team to handle the first incident, so that resources could be redirected.

Strong winds, heavy rain and poor visibility meant that an Air Ambulance had to turn back before reaching Helvellyn and assistance from a coastguard helicopter was also requested. The Helvellyn casualty was located below Striding Edge in the area of the “bad step”, having fallen approximately 10m down towards Red Tarn. On reaching the scene, the casualty was treated for back, pelvis and ankle injuries – he was given pain relief, placed in a full body splint, packaged in a casualty bag and strapped into a stretcher.

Once on the stretcher he was hoisted back onto the ridge where, during a weather window, the coastguard helicopter was able to winch him onboard. Two companions of the casualty were then walked off the hill, having become cold and mildly hypothermic. The two rescues took 6 hours and involved 13 members of Patterdale MRT, 9 members from Penrith MRT, 2 members from Kirkby Stephen MRT and a Coastguard helicopter.