Stuck on Pinnacle Ridge

At 20.50hrs on Wednesday 9th June 2021 a man in his mid twenties rang Cumbria Police requesting assistance as he was stuck on Pinnacle Ridge in the Grisedale Valley and unable to go any further. Due to the nature of the incident and weather conditions, a full team call out of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was requested.

The duty leader was unable to contact the man and a phone find was sent. However this also failed to get a response. As the team was preparing to set off up the hill after their briefing, the man managed to contact Cumbria Police and state he was moving off the hill, this was then confirmed by the phone find which showed his exact position.

A team vehicle was sent to collect him and he was conveyed back to Patterdale base at Deere How, where he was given a warm drink. He then proceeded to tell us that he lived in the Darlington area and had borrowed his mother’s mountain bike and cycled over the A66 to Penrith and onto Glenridding, taking 6 hours, before leaving the bike safely in Glenridding and making out on foot up onto St Sunday.

This ride was no mean feat in itself, the man then planning a further, well prepared, 3 day walk and cycle in the Lakes. Back at base, he was in very high spirits and could not believe he had picked the worse day to attempt this walk after all the nice weather. He was given directions to the local campsite where he could pitch his tent for the night.

He told the team that he would attempt the route again in better conditions possibly the next day, and was very apologetic for calling them out, however he was reassured by the duty leader that his actions were definitely the correct ones given the terrain and conditions at the time.