Family went missing on Kinder Scout

A family of four, including two children, set off from Edale for a hill walk on Kinder Scout on Easter Sunday (April 20). They became lost and dialled 999 asking police for assistance. The mountain rescue incident controller called the family back, but lost mobile phone connection before any useful information was passed. Repeated calls failed to connect, so sparking a major search incident on Kinder Scout involving five mountain rescue teams and search dogs.

Kinder and Glossop Teams were tasked to cover the west and north of Kinder whilst Buxton and Edale Teams covered the south and east of Kinder, including all footpath routes. Two search and rescue dogs were also called. The weather had been deteriorating throughout the evening with visibility less than 20 metres and the wind was gusting up to 30 mph. Both police and RAF helicopters were requested, but the conditions precluded their attendance.

By the early hours of bank holiday Monday no trace of the missing family had been found and concerns were growing for their welfare. After more than six hours searching, team members were tiring due to the weather and underfoot conditions, so a fifth team was called in support.

The Derby Team were assembling at Edale when a call was received from the Glossop Team Dog Handler, he had located the lost family on the northern edge of Kinder Scout. The Derby Team were diverted to the Snake Road to start climbing the northern edge with rescue equipment. However the family had no physical injuries, they were cold and wet but otherwise well. They were quickly fed energy foods and were able to walk down from the moor escorted by rescue personnel.

A hard nights work for the 80 plus mountain rescuers involved, but a very satisfying result.