Lake District mountain rescue team helps Duke of Edinburgh groups

A mountain rescue team says its volunteers had to “dig deep” in a string of call-outs over 24 hours, including for three different Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) expedition groups.

Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team (LAMRT) said it also responded to nine campers who needed help at 01:53 BST on Saturday.

Two of the DofE groups reported being disorientated around Rossett Ghyll, while the other reported being “lost, wet and cold” in their tent in the area of Grisedale Tarn.

“We will always come out to help those in need and we know that accidents happen; all we ask is that you do everything in your power to create a safe and successful day,” LAMRT said.

“As a team, we have had to dig deep over the last 24 hours.”

Cumbria Police and North West Ambulance Service said they received reports of two groups of DofE students, 12 people in all, that were “in difficulty close to the summit of Bowfell” at about 13:05 BST on Friday.

LAMRT said it had to dispatch two parties of volunteers to find the groups.

“Both groups had kept moving since they called in and were thankfully found half way down Rossett Ghyll,” LAMRT said.

The team were then called out at 18:12 to help another group of DofE students that were “lost, wet and cold in their tent” near Grisedale Tarn.

LAMRT said the students had got disorientated due to “extremely reduced visibility” and sent two small groups of volunteers to help find them.

“Half of the grid reference given was accurate, meaning we were able to figure out roughly where the group would be,” it said.

Meanwhile early on Saturday at 01:53 at Codale Tarn, the team got a call about nine campers needing help.

“Again, not being able to get in touch with the campers meant that we had no choice other than to head out to assist.”

LAMRT said it “scraped together” a party of six volunteers, three of which had been out on the previous rescue.

Volunteers helped “pack away their collapsed tents” which were “filled with an abundance of items” and started the “long walk back to the vehicles”.

Finally at 11:29, teams were called to Garburn Pass about someone who had suffered an ankle injury.

Volunteers drove to the scene and brought the casualty back down to Troutbeck.

LAMRT urged people to “prepare and plan” which was “absolutely key when heading out into the mountains”.

“There are so many ways to assess the mountain weather forecast, ensure you have the equipment you need and gain the skills to undertake your planned activity,” it added.