Our busy period continues.  This time we were called to two separate incidents within 400m of each other.  The first call came from a couple with their young son and their dog who were attempting the usual route from Edale to the downfall and back over the plateau.  They had become lost as they attempted to head out in to the plateau.  They had no phone signal, but had managed to get a 999 call through as emergency calls go out on any network, but this means we cannot call them back.  The location they had given placed them near Kinder Gates, almost in the same location as Tuesday night’s lost walkers.  As we were unable to establish whether the family were still moving and concerned that this may escalate in to a large scale search, we asked our colleagues from Buxton Mountain Rescue team to back us up by coming in from Edale. 

Meanwhile, within a few minutes of the first call coming in we received a second request for help.  Two walkers were in difficulty near the downfall and were now very cold and suffering in the high winds.  We were able to make contact with this couple and confirm their location, so we made a decision that we could send a fast party to the couple at the downfall, then send half of that party on to see if the family were still at the other location near Kinder Gates.

It takes a while for us to drive up to Edale Cross, then walk in to the Downfall, so when we reached the couple at the Downfall, they were very cold.  Two people stayed with them to warm them up while the other two pressed on.  Fortunately they were able to find the family at the location they had sent in.  They were cold, but uninjured, so they were quickly assessed and soon started walking back.

Back at the Downfall, our other set of casualties were getting very cold, so we took the decision to start walking them back towards Edale Cross.  Kinder 2 & 3 were coming in from that direction to add support.

Both groups of casualties eventually were able to walk back to our vehicles at Edale Cross and were taken back to our base to warm up with hot drinks.  It was one of our busier nights in Kinder base.

Kinder Mountain Rescue Team is staffed by volunteers who give their time free of charge and is funded entirely by public donations.

https://www.justgiving.com/kmrt

– Time: 16:30

– Type: Mountain Incident

– Location: Kinder Scout

– Team members: 23

– Duration: 5.5 hours

– Volunteer hours on this incident: 126.5 hours

– Total callout hours in 2025: 1626.5 hours