Whilst walking with her family along the fell tops a lady slipped on the wet ground causing her to suffer a suspected fracture to her ankle. Due to the pain and discomfort she was unable to continue and following an initial conversation by the Patterdale Duty Leader the team were called out to assist her off the fell.

The weather was in the uncomfortable icy cold rain and wind zone but thankfully after an initial steep climb it wasn’t too long before the team arrived on scene. The ankle was assessed and stabilised before the lady was stretchered down the hill side, over a high wall, across a few streams, into a land rover and to the Patterdale MR base where she was reunited with her family.

On Saturday, 21st February, the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) was alerted by Cumbria Police to an incident on the Gowbarrow traverse involving a male walker who had sustained a debilitating knee injury. The team was deployed immediately, with 12 volunteer members responding to the call.

Upon reaching the scene, a Team Remote Rescue Medical Technician (RRMT) conducted an assessment of the casualty. To stabilize the injury and manage the patient’s pain, medical relief was administered and the leg was professionally splinted on the hillside. Due to the nature of the terrain and the injury, the casualty was placed into a mountain rescue stretcher.

Team members then conducted a manual carry-down of the hillside, navigating the technical sections of the traverse to reach a waiting team 4×4 vehicle. Patterdale MRT would like to extend a particular note of thanks to the fell runners who stopped their own exercise to stay with the casualty and his wife until the rescue team arrived.

This act of kindness and support provided vital reassurance during the initial stages of the incident. The Team wishes the casualty a swift and full recovery.

On Tuesday 17/02/2026 at 15:15hrs the team were called out after report of a walker who had fallen and potentially broken their ankle. The call out felt like deja vu as the team had dealt with an almost identical incident in the same spot only 2 days previous.

The location which is the descend on the north side of Glenridding Dodd is not a hot spot for call outs. The team responded quickly and due to the previous experience already had a plan ready for rescue and evacuation. The casualty was treated for her dislocated ankle and given pain relief. She was then taken on a stretcher down The Rake into Glenridding The casualty was then taken to hospital by her husband.

On 15/02/2026 around 11:30 hrs, the team were called out regards a female walker who had gone over her ankle and was unable to continue her walk. The walker had been out with her family walking and when descending Glenridding Dodd had gone over on her ankle and was in severe pain.

A couple of passersby had attempted to help her off the mountain but the pain was too severe to continue. The team located the casualty quickly on the north side of Glenridding Dodd and she was treated for the severe pain and her ankle was stabilised. The casualty was then evacuated on a stretcher via The Rake down into Glenridding.

The casualty was then transferred to the base and handed over to a land ambulance for transport to Hospital.

On Saturday 7th February at 15:45hrs Cumbria Police contacted the Team to reports of a Female who had been walking and had sustained an injury to her knee and unable to carry on. The Duty Leader contacted the casualty and her companions and established they had taken the steamer to Howtown and were walking around the Lake back to Glenridding.

The female was in pain and could only walk a few metres before being unable to weight bear on her leg. A full call out was initiated and team members travelled across the Lake on Patrick Pete their Rescue Rib to the casualty site, once on scene the casualty was treated by our Remote Rescue Medical Technician (RRMT) her leg was splinted and pain relief given.

The casualty was placed onto the stretcher and carried down to the lake shore and loaded onto the Rib where she was conveyed to Glenridding pier and allowed to travel to Hospital for further treatment with her colleagues.

On Friday 30/01/25 at 1700hrs Patterdale MRT assisted Keswick MRT on an incident on the west side of Helvellyn. A walker had slipped and fallen in the snow a 100 meters down a gully on Brown Cove Crags. Five Patterdale Members had just returned to the base from a snowy walk on Helvellyn, when the call out came in.

It was quickly established that the incident was in the Keswick area and the incident was transferred to their control. Due to KMRT initially being low on responding team members and seriousness of the incident, KMRT requested assistance. The 5 Patterdale members then travelled to the Thirlmere valley to assist.

On 11-11-2026 Cumbria Police contacted Patterdale Mountain Rescue requesting assistance for a camper that was stranded on Nethermost pike 890m above sea level in a winter storm. Unfortunatly the location had no phone signal causing a lack of communication and a difficulty pinpointing the casualties location.

Once his location was established two team members were deployed to locate him in his collapsed tent to assist him off. Due to the extreme wind and snow conditions the progress was difficult. The casualty was accessed confirming that the casualty was dangerously cold and walking off was going to be a long process. Additional team members were called out from both Patterdale and Penrith MRT to assist what was looking like a long stretcher evacuation.

The Coastguard helicopter was due to attend despite the high wind but thankfully as the casualty descended and fuelled he managed to make progress walking allowing the Coastguard to be stood down. Extreme winter conditions can change rapidly and this call out relied on a lot of volunteers to ensure both the casualty and the Mountain Rescue members could safely navigate on and off the fell.

The team received their first call out for 2026 and were mobilised on Tuesday 06/01/2026 regards an incident at Aira Force. A female in her seventies had fallen on slippy ground and injured her hip and was unable to walk. The team located the casualty near the top of the falls.

Due to recent rain which has fallen on frozen ground the path had got very slippy. The casualty was treated at scene and stretchered to the awaiting ambulance.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team Marks 100th Call-Out of the Year with Christmas Day Rescue
Whilst most families were settling down for their evening at home at 17:45 on December 25th, Cumbria Police alerted Penrith MRT to a broken emergency call from a walker in distress. With limited information they realised the call was possibly in our area and passed the incident over to Patterdale to the Duty Leader.
 After numerous attempts to speak to the informant and with growing concern for a family member at high altitude, the Duty Leader called the full team out requesting additional support from Penrith Mountain Rescue Team to prepare for a potentially long technical evacuation.
Whilst the Team were making their way to Patterdale Base the Police had received further calls enabling the location to be around the Dove Crag area in Hartsop as first thought and that a female was unwell and unable to walk off the hill with her family member safely.
As 19 volunteers from both teams ascended toward the summit of Dove Crag, the reporting walker—having descended to the valley to ensure the alarm was raised—was able to provide a clear location and medical details.
The casualty was located on the fell, where they had been carefully wrapped in sleeping bags and a bivi bag by their companion to keep them warm from the bitter cold conditions at scene. After receiving immediate medical treatment, the casualty was stabilised and assisted off the hill by the combined teams. The casualty was conveyed to Patterdale Base to be reunited with the family member and after being assessed again by the Team Doctor they were allowed to return to their home address .
The Rescue  lasted 5 hours and 30 minutes, involving 9 members from Patterdale MRT and 10 from Penrith MRT and our thanks again to them for their valuable assistance.

A Milestone of Service This mission marked the 100th time this year that Patterdale’s volunteers have left their jobs, beds, or families to assist those in need.

“Reaching 100 rescues for the second year running is a significant milestone,” said a spokesperson for Patterdale MRT. “It is particularly resonant that this occurred on Christmas Day. It highlights the unwavering commitment of our members who, like all Mountain Rescue volunteers, provide this professional service entirely for free, regardless of the day or hour.

The team would like to remind the public that even on holidays, help is always available, but being prepared with emergency shelter and extra calories can be life-saving.

On Sunday 7th December at 13:00hrs the Team were contacted by Langdale/Ambleside Mountain Rescue after they had received a call for assistance from North West Ambulance.  A male had been reported to have fallen around 40 Metres down scree and rocks whilst descending from Dove Crag in the Hartsop Valley and as it was in Patterdales area passed it quickly over to ourselves to deal. The Duty Leader spoke to the reporting person to ascertain the circumstances and called the Team out for a Full Rescue.  Due to the nature of the reporting length of fall and injuries a Coastguard Rescue Helicopter was requested to assist. Team Members headed to the scene and the first party arrived just as Rescue 199 from Prestwick arrived.  The casualty was treated and then winched on board the Helicopter and flown down to Patterdale Base where he was transferred to an Ambulance to be taken to hospital for further treatment.  Due to initial low numbers and the prospect of a prolonged and difficult extraction if the Helicopter couldn’t get to scene a request was made for Penrith Mountain Rescue to assist us.
The rescue lasted 4.5 hrs involving 13 Patterdale members and 5 Penrith members, our thanks to  both Penrith and Rescue 199 for their assistance.