Group of men rescued from Scarfell Pike

[MrsSkylerWhite]

Up to their waists in snow, apparently.
What sort of idiot decides to go on a hike when there’s an amber warning, meaning risk to life, in place?

If you want to kill yourselves, go ahead. Don’t expect to be rescued though when you inevitably get into trouble, putting other people’s lives at risk.

You're not a hiker are you? I'll be on the treadmill today but it's just not the same. The achievement of hiking to the top of a mountain and the amazing view? You can't replicate that.

Also, treadmill fitness is not the same. The natural up and down of the land gives you a different kind of fitness. I tried hard over lockdowns to maintain my fitness on the treadmill, but it really didn't do the job. I had a lot to regain after.

My DH works on a search and rescue helicopter, not in the UK but they regularly rescue these plonkers with an apparent death wish. At enormous risk to the crew, plus their operating costs are astronomical, covered by the taxpayer.

If people who deliberately put themselves at risk, ignoring warnings, were presented with the bill for their rescue maybe they'd actually engage their brains. As it is, they probably think it's a funny story that will help them go viral on TikTok.

You get than an orange weather warning for snow/ice in the U.K. is equivalent to an average early autumn day in the Alps right?

So yes, properly trained and experienced mountaineers would go out in such weather in the U.K. it’s hardly a blizzard.

You're not a hiker are you? I'll be on the treadmill today but it's just not the same. The achievement of hiking to the top of a mountain and the amazing view? You can't replicate that.

Also, treadmill fitness is not the same. The natural up and down of the land gives you a different kind of fitness. I tried hard over lockdowns to maintain my fitness on the treadmill, but it really didn't do the job. I had a lot to regain after.

While all that is true, those benefits -the view and the good walk - are best obtained in decent conditions aren't they.
The people who get into trouble which would be foreseeable rather than unlucky accidents seem often to be doing it for machismo not fitness or an appreciation of nature.

At least the hikers are doing something that is usually health promoting.

Walking up a mountain during an amber weather warning for snow, at the beginning of January with short daylight, and ill-equipped is very definitely NOT ‘health promoting’.

I'll be on the treadmill today because the weather is crap.

I suspect most rescues are people who could have avoided it. I silently judge a number of people I see heading into wilderness areas badly equipped and hope they'll be okay, but for all I know they are waling a mile in and out again, so fine.

Recent rescues I'm aware of - severe allergic reaction to a plant on a mountain, unexpected snow (made to wait it out overnight as it wasn't safe to launch a rescue), broken leg. But I know many are getting lost or running out of daylight.

Those talking about costs - all uk mountain rescue teams are volunteers funded by collection as are air ambulances.

Scafell may be the highest peak in the lakes but it's far from the most challenging - if these guys were unprepared they're idiots but idiots get into trouble on benign hummocks by going unprepared into bad/changing weather. 'Scafell' doesn't make this a special case.

Selfish idiots.

One of the rescue team died a couple of years ago as a result of injuries sustained trying to rescue someone.

It was a blizzard, that is the point. And you get there is a considerably fewer daylight hours at the beginning of January in England than in early autumn in the Alps?

It seems that they were not suitably equipped, by their own admission:
https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/24834500.lake-district-wasdale-mrt-called-five-walkers-climbing-scafell-pike/

There is a huge Facebook and other SM surge of people fellwalking and wild camping over night to photograph sunrises and cloud inversions. I was reading posts just this evening, with people discussing their plans for tonight, tomorrow etc.

Most seem very experienced and very well equipped (the kit talk is extensive), but the tone is very hung ho and could be misleading to the inexperienced.

She would’ve been fine, but her husband thought it would be hysterical to scare her with a flare gun.
Silly.

There was a story from a couple of years ago of people who tried to go up Ben Nevis wearing flip flops, inevitably needed to be rescued, and were prosecuted for wasting police time for their stupid decision. I’ll try to find it.

There was an Amber warning out.

Experienced climbers wouldn't be out on Scarfell Pike during an Amber warning. If you were training for a full on expedition you'd go to Scotland where the conditions are more common. You wouldn't seek out an Amber warning on Scarfell Pike.

They 100% were inexperienced idiots.

It's absolutely inane to go hiking on the bad weather, when warnings were given for days that there would be deep snow.
Exposure can hit hard, hypothermia is real, and rescuing them risks the Mountain rescue parties as well, who are often volunteers.

@MrsSkylerWhite YANBU.

Heck, even where we were, there was barely an inch of snow, but there was a cutting wind.

Struggling through drifts would be exhausting.

Relatively. This is a long way from "idiots in flip flops".

The owner of this dog and cat live in a region in Eastern Europe where there is snow many metres deep at times, and deep forests... to keep the dogs fit during extreme weather, they use a treadmill. {Dogs have snow boots}
People freeze to death there frequently.

The helicopter called out for this incident, like many for incidents in the Lakes, was a coastguard helicopter. So very much taxpayer funded.

The closure of the A66 and most of the passes will be stopping a lot of people who decide to head to the high fells for a bit of a laugh…

It is scary. Helvellyn often develops a big snow cornice over the almost sheer drop into Red Tarn. An inexperienced person, there for the photos, could easily fall foul of that.

The fatality within the last couple of days was on Sharp Edge, Blencathra, a sheer ridge of rock which is extremely slippery on the warmest driest summer day. With a 70m almost sheer drop.

I am surprised more people don’t come to grief.

Remember the group of schoolchildren who were with their teacher in the Cairngorms, and who died in awful conditions . We had one of the mountain rescue team staying with us on holiday at that time, and he was so upset. I think the teacher may have survived, it's years ago now.

They clearly weren't doing it in flip flops as they actually reached the summit so must have had ice gear.. they also were able to phone emergency services without phone signal so must have had a satellite device..
That doesn't sound like a group of lads in flip flops

Tbf I think it is sounding like this group didn't have the experience to do this..
But many people do practice ice climbing on scafell Pike during snowy weather as its a relatively straightforward mountain. Good practice for those conditions. It's not quite as dangerous as the other big two in the UK on some routes up.
I've been up many a time on many routes.. never during the winter though I've no experience of that, but I know people who do! So it's not true that experienced climbers wouldn't seek it out during difficult weather conditions.
As other people have said if you want to learn to climb in snow and ice you do have to practice somewhere.

But doesn't apply to this news story as having read it now it does mention they weren't experienced enough to be doing this.

DH is an ex-mountaineer and ice climber, we've done many hikes together in the Alps and in the UK.

People all the way along the scale of experience, from flip flop hikers to experienced ice climbers, make a bad call sometimes - usually not more than once if it's a VERY bad call.

I've had 'an Alpine moment' on Scafell Pike in average springtime conditions - the weather can close in quickly. I just chatted with DH about this. He wouldn't have attempted it. There's a big chance that you'd be absolutely fine in adverse conditions, but sensible climbers/hikers would know that an injury or misstep in this weather could be a serious thing.

If someone gets hurt and slows the group's progress, in bad conditions, hypothermia is a real risk. I've experienced hypothermia once, and it was terrifying. You're completely reliant on your companions. For all of these factors, I'm coming down to the view that these were possibly experienced hikers, but reckless ones.

I don’t care how experienced a group or person is when the weather is bad you just don’t go out. I’m an experienced hiker of many years. There is no way I would go out when it’s like this, there is an amber warning. I live on the edge of the Peak District and a member of staff in another dept, I didn’t know them but I knew of them was a mountain rescue volunteer.

Check the Lake District Hiking and Wild Camping Facebook group if you want to see people in tents on snowy summits…