Blizzard conditions prevented a helicopter rescue

A mountain rescue team had to walk through waist-deep snow for an hour yesterday evening to rescue a group of walkers stranded in the North York Moors national park.

Police were unable to reach the group and alerted Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team to the plight of the walkers, who were on moorland on the edge of Cropton Forest, north of Pickering.

A group of five walkers from the York area were brought to safety in the Pickering area on the evening of Friday 8 January after they became stranded in blizzard conditions. Police said, if the men had not been as well equipped as they were, the incident could have had a tragic outcome.

North Yorkshire Police received an emergency call at 5.25pm yesterday, Friday, from one of the men who had become separated from the rest of the group. He was advised to use his extra clothing and sleeping bag to keep warm. His friends, meanwhile, retraced their steps and found the man 20 minutes later.

The temperature was -8C and the snow was 1.2m (4ft) high and the group was showing signs of hypothermia. A police spokesman said that, luckily, they were equipped with sleeping bags and stoves, having intended to spend the night in a moorland bothy. They lit a fire and cooked hot food and made a drink, then used a GPS unit to give an accurate position.

Members of the mountain rescue team used their two Land Rovers to reach a car park at Snape from where they reached the men on foot. Helicopters were unable to help in the rescue because of the severity of the weather.

The men were walked off the moorland to the waiting MRT Land Rovers where they were give medical checks by a doctor before making their way from the site.

Superintendent Glyn Payne, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “This incident highlights the serious dangers that even the most experienced walkers can get into when the conditions are so extreme.

“The obvious advice is that people should not take such risks in their leisure time, especially when heavy snow and freezing conditions were forecast.

“On the other hand it does prove the importance of being fully equipped for such conditions, because without the extra clothing, sleeping bags and rations taken by these men, the outcome could have been far more serious and even tragic.”

Supt Payne praised the praised the work of the Scarborough & Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team for battling through the conditions to bring the men to safety, and also praised his own officers and controllers for their part in the rescue.

He said: “If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in such potentially life or death situations, it is comforting to know that the emergency services and organisations such as mountain rescue are on hand to do everything they can to help. The preservation of life is always our ultimate goal, and the people who work so hard to achieve this deserve every credit.”

Police say that, with more heavy snow expected in the week ahead, along with strong easterly and north-easterly winds, there is a serious risk that drifting snow could make moorland and dales roads impassable and extremely dangerous. The advice is for people to stay away from these remote routes until the weather conditions significantly improve.