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Date of Incident

20/03/2017

Country

England

Route

Activity

Winter walking

When

Descending

Injury

Minor injury

Incident

I was actually on my own, I was descending Helm Crag after an easy hike to the top and decided to take a short cut down as I have done before. It had not been snowing and was quite a nice day, I had crampons with me and couldn't be bothered to put them on and then started to go down. My first step resulted in a slip (very wet and steep turf), my head hit the rock path and stunned me, I was wearing a helmet otherwise I would not be typing this, I fell quite a distance before I was able to actually stop the fall, I had hit quite a few exposed rocks on the way down including a couple of head impacts. I took a few moments to get my wits about me then put on the crampons and traversed to a safe gradient and hobbled my way back to Grasmere. I had quite a few injuries and was given the all clear by my GP when I got back. My mountaineering skills are quite high and this was down to being an idiot and forgetting about gravity.

Lessons

Firstly use your equipment, that is why you carry it. Never forget gravity is an element not just snow, wind, ice etc. The main one for me is wear a helmet, especially for children, my two teenage boys always wear one whenever we venture up on rock and fells.

Causes

Slip, trip or fall

Anonymous?

No

Reported By

Participant

Wearing Helmets?

Rescue Services Involved?

none

Author

Colin Hutchison

11 February 2020 at 16:20:49

For more advice and guidance on good practices visit BMC skills

All reports are self-submitted and have not been edited by the BMC in any way, so please keep an open mind regarding the lessons and causes of each incident or near-miss. 

If you have a concern regarding this report please contact us at incidentreports@thebmc.co.uk

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