Green Gable (1)

Callout Date: 01/01/2023
Callout Time: 12:44 am
Agencies Involved: Keswick MRT, RAF Valley MR, R936 Caernarfon, NWAS

Happy New Year. In what must be some kind of record our first callout for 2023 occurred just 44 minutes into the new year. Two well equipped and experienced females, who had considered the weather forecast, decided to celebrate the start of the new year on top of Great Gable. When they reached Green Gable conditions were impressively unpleasant with strong winds blowing persistent rain, sleet, hail and snow so they wisely turned back. Unfortunately on the descent one of them slipped and fell breaking her ankle so they called 999 and asked for Mountain Rescue. Keswick team responded quickly (those that were able!) but as luck would have it members of RAF Valley and RAF Lossiemouth have been staying in Keswick base for a few days and were able to boost our numbers considerably.

The teams approached from Honister then the steep mine track up towards Dubs Hut. Due to the location and potential difficulty in extracting the casualty the Coast Guard were also tasked. Rescue 936 from Caernarfon attempted to approach from Wasdale and Ennerdale but they were forced to turn back because of the conditions. The casualty and her friend plus two dogs were found exactly on their Phone Find location. The injury was assessed, pain relief administered and the leg splinted and bandaged before the casualty was loaded onto a stretcher for the carry back to Honister. We owe a huge debt of thanks to the RAF MR team members who came out and helped with the callout. What a memorable start to the new year.

14 Keswick team members, 11 RAF Valley MR team members – 4 hours 51 minutes