Piers Gill. Something has changed.
Mountains by their very nature are inherently hazardous, and this is part of their attraction (at least for some). Piers Gill has always been an accident blackspot for the team and there is a long history of serious events and fatalities.
However, the number of incidents of people walking down the gill bed (stream bed) from the Corridor Route on their descent from Scafell Pike has suddenly become more frequent, with four serious events recently:
20th August 2023: Two walkers spent 24 hours in the gill before alerting a passing walker. Both were cold with minor injuries.
Rescue details: 10 hours, 2 Mountain Rescue teams, 1 Coastguard helicopter.
4th February 2024: Lone walker reported overdue. Evacuated after about 6 hours in the gill with multiple scrapes and bruises.
Rescue details: 9 hours, 2 Mountain Rescue teams, Search dog team.
29th February 2024: Lone walker reported overdue. Evacuated after about 24 hours in the gill, with injuries to both feet/ankles.
Rescue details: 17 hours, 8 Mountain Rescue teams, 2 Search dog teams, Helimed helicopter, Coastguard helicopter, drone team.
1st March 2024: Lone walker reported overdue. Evacuated after about 12 hours in the gill, serious injuries and hypothermia.
Rescue details: 19 hours, 5 Mountain Rescue teams, 2 Coastguard helicopters.
Each one of these rescues has only been successful because of amazing luck in not suffering worse injuries or spending longer in the gill before being found.
Piers Gill is extremely hazardous because it comprises of a series of waterfall climbing pitches. They can only safely be attempted by rope access. It can be tempting to believe that the one just descended is the worst, but they get progressively harder. They are also more difficult or impossible to climb back up. This results in a ātrapā where either people become stuck, or they risk taking the next descent, thinking it is the last one.
Eventually, either people fall, resulting in traumatic injuries, or become stuck with increasing hypothermia risk. Or both. For rescuers, it is also a hazardous location, primarily because of the steep sides and loose rocks. Almost nothing is truly stable, and so there is always a risk of rockfalls, even with a technically perfect rope system.
So, we need some help. For some unknown reason, people are starting to take this route more often. The relevant authorities are reacting and considering what additional things they can do to prevent people from accidentally straying into the top of the gill, which, at the top, looks fairly benign. The only path down is on the east rim of the gill and even that goes very close to the edge and has a rock step.
Our responsibility is only for search and rescue, not prevention. We also need help to raise awareness outside of this āfollowingā. Good navigation and awareness are needed, and none of the walkers in the events above intended to be where they were found. We realise that, to a large extent, we donāt need to remind the followers of this page, but we do need to reach others who come to enjoy the mountains and are not seasoned walkers. As well as the well-prepared walkers, we see many people on Scafell Pike unaware of the very real hazards.
We are asking that you share this widely please, in order that we can reach a different and diverse group and avoid similar future incidents in Piers Gill.
I commend the sentiment of your post, but you are onto a losing battle here.
Many times I have been on Scafell Pike in thick snow and ice, to see a steady stream of individuals in trainersā¦oblivious to the risk of a slip followed by a long slide to their doom, with no means of arresting their slide. None of these walkers have any form of map or compass skills, or have thought about what they would do if they suffered a minor injury (and so have minimal extra warm clothing),all this is basic advice that Mountain Rescue teams put out time-and-again. So Iām afraid specific advice about Piers Gill just wont get heeded by the people who need to know.
There are signs up at the NT car park about ābeing safe in the hillsā (and signs in the Keswick area that would cover users of the path you show)ā¦and I think thatās probably about enough.
WMRT would be better off by installing a a couple of man eating lions in PIers Gill. Then at least, they would not have to climb in to recover any bodies,
Totally agree Matthew. I recommended not to go anywhere near it to those who look at it scratching their chins when on the corridor route and quite a few smile, turn away merrily then off they trot.
Not unless you have rope, a sturdy bonnet and some mountaineering experience.
Obviously Iām only guessing, but I can think of a couple of reasons for these incidents.
Lots of todayās hill walkers, only use Sat nav. Maps donāt run out of battery power and I assume that if you ādown loadā, a route and mistakenly wander off or deliberately change your route, not all apps have the capacity to tell you that you are entering somewhere with difficult steps or descent routes like the Ghyll and 5 fingers gully on the Ben. You wonāt know until you get stuck!!!
iām also guessing that a lot of todayās hillwalkers donāt read books. I know lots of people who never read booksl. I learned about Piers, Ghyll many years ago reading several books about the Lake District. I guess thereās quite a lot of info on-line about that Ghyll and other dangerous spots. But youāve got to look/search for it unlike a book where thereās probably a photo, and/or as you browse a book youāll probably come across warnings even if you skim read.
This post wasnāt for the hordes that descend on the Lake District each weekend, but for those who enjoy SOTA (including the newbies) and who are not that experienced with the Cumbrian Mountains, which although not the highest are some of the most treacherous in the UK.
Thereās also quite a bit of map quality difference between SatNav/smartphone maps. Compare appropriately scaled OS maps with what (say) Google Maps offers. Wouldnāt generally trust the latter off-road, myself.
Iāve had two incidents in G/LD land where tourists asked me if they were on the ācorrectā route and they were using a print-out from Google Maps (so, not even with SatNav confirmation). Apart from the extreme lack of topological detail, it showed only the Google-suggested route and none of the other paths. So, inevitably they didnāt know which path to take at a junction.
Many tourists have no means of navigation (not to mention appropriate clothing, emergency kit, etc). More than once on Whernside G/NP-004 Iāve had folk who have walked up from Ribblehead Viaduct - a popular parking place - ask me for the best route ābackā (as though there is only one way to get to the summit). Iām reluctant to advise them but show them on my map where we are, where they parked and the path(s) between - better that than they go off blindly.
Many casual walkers visiting these national parks often decide to do hilly walks at short notice and without preparation. As Matthew says, itās a losing battle.
BTW: I concluded the reason they asked me rather than other walkers at the summit is because - sitting with my technical radio stuff - I must look like I know what Iām doing. Ha ha!
Sounds like a real reason for the UK govt-run OS to remove their inexplicable copyright restrictions on topo maps. Here in ZL I donāt think Iāve ever seen any tramping/hiking smartphone user using anything but the official LINZ (OS equivalent) topo50 map layer on whatever smartphone app they choose to use.
There are still all the other risks associated with GPS based navigation (rather than knowing how to determine where you are). But at least they have the best / safest available maps for free.
For particularly our overseas readers who might not get the context, this is a reference to The Yorkshire Three Peaks where walkers try to summit Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough in one day. Probably some SOTA activators have activated all three in one day too.
You have them on your device for Ā£2.91/month and can download maps if you will be where there is no signal. And print them. And import and export routes. A pint of beer where my radio club meets is over Ā£7.00 so Ā£2.91 is cheap.
Andā¦ even if they were free and paper maps were handed out at the car park, weāre dealing with people too stupid to understand them and what they mean.
Seven quid! You were robbed. I remember being at college when UK currency had just gone decimal and at one pub in the town you could still get a pint for 11p.
