Incident report

Nineteen members of Buxton Mountain Rescue Team responded at 22.40 on Friday evening to a call-out to assist two mature ladies who had become trapped on very steep and slippery ground in Chee Dale.  

The ladies’s who were experienced walkers, one from Buxton and the other a friend from Eastbourne, had set off for an afternoon’s ramble from Millers Dale.   The traumatic events started when they took a route which they believed to be a path back towards the Monsal Trail.  Footprints reassured the ladies that they were on a path but in fact these are the prints left by many other walkers who have made the same mistake.  The route climbs steeply and becomes very muddy and difficult to walk on.  By the time the ladies realised their mistake they were unable to get back down the hillside.

Darkness had fallen by the time the rescue team was alerted by the police.  However, the search for the ladies was greatly aided by a family member who had been looking couple earlier in the evening and had heard calls in the area of Chee Tor.  Team members climbed to the spot and set up a technical rope system to assist the ladies back down to the riverside path.  However, the steep wooded sides of the valley caused many problems and it was the early hours of Saturday before they were on safe ground.  They were then escorted back to Millers Dale where hot drinks and refreshment was waiting.

Photos:  Top – from team library.  Lower –  A 300 metre via ferratta gave team members and the casualties security on the steep hillside.