Bad weather hampered mountain rescue team's efforts to rescue man, 24, who fell 10m from Helvellyn

Bad weather hampered attempts to reach a 24-year-old man who had fallen from Striding Edge on Helvellyn.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team were preparing to head out to a woman with an ankle injury on Heron Pike on Saturday 15 October when they received the call.

They diverted resources due to the potentially serious nature of the Helvellyn incident.

Strong winds and heavy rain meant an air ambulance helicopter had to turn back before reaching the man.

He was located below Striding Edge in the area of the “bad step”, having fallen approximately 10m down towards Red Tarn.

Members of the mountain rescue team reached the casualty on foot, and a gap in the weather meant he could be winched off the hill by a Coastguard helicopter.

The man suffered injuries to his back, pelvis and ankle.

Two of his companions were walked down the hill, having become cold and mildly hypothermic.

While all of this was occurring, the Penrith and Kirkby Stephen mountain rescue teams reached the woman on Heron Pike, one of the fells overlooking Ullswater, and carried her to an ambulance.

The two rescues took six hours and involved 13 members of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team, nine members from Penrith Mountain Rescue Team, two members from Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team and a Coastguard helicopter.

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