Kinder Scout.
- Call out for year: 89
- Date: 3/12/20
- Time: 3:27 pm
- Grid ref: SK 12424 85318
- Type of incident: Walker Search lost (self report)(2)
- Team members involved: 14
- Time taken: 4 hours 6 minutes
- Total man hours: 59 hours
Incident report
As daylight was fading and the first significant snow of the season beginning to fall, two walkers on the Kinder plateau knew they were beginning to get into difficulties and sensibly took the decision to call for help by dialling 999 and asking for the Police and mountain rescue.
The party were not sure of their exact position on the plateau, so were asked to download a location app onto their phone and establish a grid reference. Derbyshire Constabulary then contacted Buxton Mountain Rescue Team who put out a call for a small group of team members to head to the location given by the app and escort the walkers to safety.
One section walked up the path to Grindslow Knoll to join the southern edge path, while the other ascended Grindsbrook Clough. Winter conditions had truly set in on the plateau giving severe wind chill and a good covering of snow. As darkness fell it was important to find the party as quickly as possible. Thankfully the first section to reach the top found the walkers safe and well, very close to the position indicated by the phone app. After a check on their physical condition and well-being, the decision was made to escort them off the hill to the safety of Edale village and their onward journey home.
An excellent outcome and a reminder to all visitors to the Peak District National Park that winter has arrived, bringing both delights and dangers.
Team members then returned the vehicles to base to be cleaned as per our Covid-19 guidelines, and then onto an online training session on weather forecasting given by our friends at the Mountain Weather Information Service.
