Sty Head (31)

Callout Date: 27/07/2020
Callout Time: 1:50 pm
Agencies Involved: Keswick MRT

Three pre-university school leavers had decided to climb the 3 peaks of Snowdon, Scafell and Ben Nevis. Having completed Snowdon without any trouble a couple of days ago the three young men had scheduled Scafell Pike, on their trip northwards, for today. Despite looking at the weather forecast and thinking it won’t be too bad, they set off in the rain from Seathwaite. They passed Sty Head Tarn and continued along the Corridor Route in strengthening winds and persistent rain. Their progress was becoming increasingly difficult due to the conditions and they started to get seriously cold, especially as one of the young men’s poncho had blown off in a strong gust. They realised they were potentially in danger and were concerned enough for their safety that they called 999 and asked for Mountain Rescue assistance. They retraced their route making it back to the stretcher box at Sty Head Pass, into which they all climbed and shivered to wait for rescue. They sent an accurate location from there using What3Words. Two well equipped walkers found them there and gave assistance with some spare clothing they had and encouragement to keep walking down in order to try to generate some warmth. One team member who lives in Seathwaite met them some way above the 1000ft boulder on the path to Sty Head. He was in the process of giving extra clothing, food and drink when the main rescue party arrived with further supplies. The three were walked back down to the valley and given a long lecture about mountain preparedness, weather and safety. The lads were humble, apologetic, receptive and have certainly learnt a lot from their experience. They promised to get things right for ‘the Ben.’

13 team members – 2 hours 15 minutes