A Wainwright bagging couple who became separated – after she fell and injured her leg and he had backtracked to find a mobile phone he had lost – were safely reunited by mountain rescuers from Keswick and Cockermouth.
The pair were on Glaramara on Wednesday when she slipped off a drop and fell 16ft, injuring her head and upper leg.
She reassured her partner that she was fine and he continued his search for his mobile phone and retraced their route in poor visibility and snow.
After giving up on the phone, the man found he could no longer find the woman despite searching for some considerable time. The man, without his phone, had no choice but to descend.
Meantime the woman realised that something was wrong and called 999 for mountain rescue assistance. The woman was able to make her own way back up towards Glaramara aided by regular confirmatory calls from the Keswick Mountain Rescue Team base and using the phone find to track her progress.
When the phone signal got weak the woman was asked to stay where she was so that the team knew exactly where to find her.
The team approached from Combe Gill and also up the steep Hind Gill from Seathwaite to maximise the chances of finding the woman. Meantime on safely reaching the valley bottom in Seathwaite the man called 999 using the public payphone and reported his location and the situation to the police.
The woman reported being cold and having a sore leg from her fall so the team asked for help from Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team to boost Keswick’s numbers in case a stretcher carry proved necessary.
Despite poor visibility on the snowy tops the rescuers found the woman thanks to the precise phone find location. She was given some food and after being assessed she was able to walk off unaided.
The two walkers were eventually reunited back at the Keswick base.
