Rock climbing

Incident Report #62 1995

Two men were climbing Gimmer Crack, a "Very Severe" rockclimb. One of them was unable to complete a pitch near the top. It went dark while he tried. His friend was unable to pull him up. He attempted to abseil down, but in the dark, missed the belay ledge and came to the end of the rope. At this point he became stuck. His friend managed to make his way down and raise the alarm. We located him, lowered a couple of climbers and enough rope down and lowered him to the bottom of the crag.
Incident Type

Incident Report #25 1995

Called to assist the ambulance crew with a 20 year old man who had been practising a hard route in the quarry. He had completed it several times when the 'in-situ' tape sling broke, dropping him 25ft. to the ground. He fractured both wrists, his ankle, and sustained head and spinal injuries. NEVER RELY ON IN-SITU GEAR, REPLACE IT WHEN EVER POSSIBLE, WITH YOUR OWN. Close examination of this bit of sling revealed green mould on the side facing the rock, and the colour bleached out of teh other side by thje weather.
Incident Type

Incident Report #69 1997

Every now and again a needless and tragic accident occurs, the victim of which will suffer for the rest of their lives. A 30-year-old man fell about 35ft. while climbing, suffering head, arm, leg and very serious spinal injuries in the process. He was lowered to the base of the crag by his second, and then treated by the Team, and evacuated by helicopter to Preston. His spinal cord had been severed. They had set out after dark, after allegedly consuming a substantial quantity of alcohol, and were climbing despite advice from friends.
Incident Type

Incident Report #62 1997

A figure was reported as stationary on "Pluto", a popular and difficult rock climb. He was reported as being in this position for a long time. By the time we arrived he had moved on. We had a brief chat with two men descending from the crag and established that it was them who had been seen, and that no-one was in trouble. A complete lack of knowledge of rock climbing, and a pint or two of beer may have clouded our informants judgement slightly.
Incident Type

Incident Report #34 2011

A male climber fell whiel demonstrating techniques to a group. He sustained a nasty head injury and a fracture/dislocated ankle. He was treated by team members, air and land ambulance paramedics and evacuated to the valley floor for onward transport to hospital by air ambulance.

Man Hours
12 team members for 2 hours
Incident Type
OS Grid Reference
NY298067

Incident Report #39 1998

A 45-year-old local man fell 40 ft from the third pitch of this route. He sustained a pneumothorax, surgical emphysema, multiple broken ribs, a bruised heart and a flail chest segment( and a small cut to his leg!). He was treated on scene and evacuated by helicopter to Furness General Hospital. He was in a very serious condition and required paralysing and ventilating in intensive care for several days.
Incident Type

Incident Report #30 2011

The team were called to a climber who had fallen a considerable distance from the top of Raven Crag, Walthwaite. He fell around 75 metres, sustaining serious multiple injuries. His second also sustained minor injuries , including rope burns, because he was pulled off his stance. We worked with paramedics, air ambulance and RAF to treat and evacuate the man
Incident Type
OS Grid Reference
NY325057

Incident Report #47 1999

A 30-year-old woman was abseiling from a rock climb when her belays failed. She fell 60ft before coming rest on a ledge in a gully. The team worked for several hours to get her out, and then she was airlifted to hospital in Carlisle with multiple injuries. Two climbers in the vicinity went to her aid soon after her fall, and stayed with her the whole time. Their actions are worthy of praise; having suffered cold and rock falls to assist.
Incident Type

Incident Report #45 2000

A 47-year-old man was descending from a climb when he was hit by a very large boulder falling down the gulley. He sustained a very serious fracture to his lower leg. He was treated at the scene and airlifted to Carlisle Hospital by RAF Boulmer. Considering the number of people enjoying the fine weather in the area, we were lucky to not have to deal with other injured people. Sadly, we later learned that due to the severity of his injuries, his foot had to be amputated.

Incident Type

Incident Report #16 2000

A 21-year-old local student took a tumble while descending from a rock climb. He was reported as having fallen 100 metres. He had been unconscious, but his friend was helping him down. We treated his very obvious head injuries and shipped him off to hospital at Lancaster. He was later transferred to Preston for surgery on his depressed fractured skull.

Incident Type