Walker on first day of Pennine Way rescued on Kinder Scout

The Buxton Mountain Rescue Team today released details of the incident - which took place in atrocious weather conditions on Friday, March 3.

When the lone walker was found by rescuers, he had been joined by three other people also lost on the mountain.

These included two hikers from Manchester and a Brazilian woman on holiday in the Peak District.

Senior team member, Roger Bennett, said: “This was another example of people using mobile phones for navigation and underestimating the seriousness of our local hills and weather conditions.

“We urge everyone to carry a map and compass, torch and whistle on every visit to the moors.

“Technical navigational gadgets can lose signal or suffer flat batteries, so know how to read a map and use a compass properly.

“Your life may depend on it.”

Weather conditions on Friday were described as ‘very poor’ with substantial rain falling on an already sodden moor.

This has swelled streams into torrents and low cloud had reduced visibility to a few metres.

There was also deep snow lying in groughs and across footpaths, hampering progress.

Fortunately, rescuers were able to plot the Pennine Way walker’s position by his mobile phone’s GPS facility.

Whilst he was waiting for the team to arrive, another two walkers from the Manchester area had heard his whistle blasts and went to his location.

They too were lost and all three decided to stay together until help arrived.

Another lost walker then turned up - a lady on holiday in the Peak District from Brazil.

All four had set off from Edale at different times on Friday morning and decided to stay together until the team arrived.

On arrival team members quickly assessed each of the lost walkers and then guided them off the moor via Jacobs Ladder to Edale.