Incidents 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60 of 2023:-
02 & 03/12/23, Grizedale Forest, Hawkshead, Coniston Areas.
The morning of the 2nd December started with a light covering of snow, but this soon escalated to heavy snow which continued throughout the rest of the day and evening, resulting in depths of over 1 foot in places (30.5cm).
At approximately 10am, the Team Leader was made aware of potential issues as the annual Grizedale Rally was taking place with over 350 vehicles participating. She advised Cumbria Police and LDSAMRA (Lake District Search & Mountain Rescue Association) of a potential serious situation. Requests for assistance from the rally organiser soon followed and the Team then commenced deployment. Inevitably, the rally was stopped eventually.
All three Land Rovers were utilised and sent to various locations in and around Grizedale Forest, to help pick up stranded motorists who had to abandon their vehicles. Snow chains were the equipment of the day! They were taken to Reception Centres in Hawkshead and Coniston, thank you so much for your help! During the day we also helped take a number of people who either required medication but couldn’t get to their accommodation to access it, or collect vital medical equipment which was needed.
Thank you to RAF Valley MRT for their assistance in the evening, and both Langdale & Ambleside, and Duddon & Furness MR Teams, for helping out on the peripheries of our area.
The Rescue Base was locked up at approximately midnight on Saturday, and opened again about 10.30am on the Sunday for continuing call outs. The issues finally stopped coming through to the Team Leader about 9pm on Sunday night.
At the time of writing this, it is Monday morning and we are concluding our first (and hopefully “only”) call out of the day.
