Missing couple prompt mountain rescue team warning

[Daryl]

Missing couple prompt mountain rescue team warning retrieved fromhttp://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/4572072.Missing_couple_prompt_mountain_rescue_team_warning/

A LAKE District mountain rescue team has urged walkers to leave clear details of their intended route before setting off to tackle the fells.

It follows an incident on Friday when the Patterdale and Keswick Mountain Rescue Teams, supported by the Search & Rescue Dog Association, launched a major search for two walkers, thought to be missing in the Helvellyn area.

The missing couple, both in their 40s, had failed to return to their bed and breakfast accommodation in Windermere, which they had left the day before, saying that they were intending to climb Helvellyn.

One of the couple was known to have a medical condition. But the couple had chosen to climb a mountain in a different part of the Lake District, and all the resources of the mountain rescue teams were deployed in the wrong area.

The couple spent an uncomfortable night on the fell from around 7pm on Thursday night, when they became lost in mist.

They were also not carrying a compass or torch and were unable to make their own way down or signal for help.

A spokesman for the Patterdale team said: “We would like to remind people to leave clear details of their intended route and, critically, advise of any subsequent changes, and also to carry appropriate equipment including a whistle and torch”.

Eighteen members of the team attended the incident with five search dogs and several members of Keswick MRT.