Crinkle Crags

A walker turned up safe and well after spending the night on the Lake District fells when he got lost.

Three mountain rescue teams were involved in a major search for the man on Tuesday when he phoned for help saying he was lost somewhere on Crinkle Crags in Great Langdale.

Five Search and Rescue Dogs Association handlers and their animals joined the search, involving 14 rescuers from the Langdale and Ambleside, Wasdale and Kendal Mountain Rescue Teams.

The Langdale team was alerted at 6.35pm.

A spokesperson for Langdale and Ambleside MRT said: “We had great difficulty getting back to him on his Italian mobile phone, but eventually managed to speak to him.

“He was using the GPS on the same phone and was unable to operate the GPS and phone simultaneously. He convinced us he was near the southern end of the crags, but an extensive search failed to locate him.

“Having exhausted all reasonable possibilities, using three mountain rescue teams and five search dogs, we eventually had to call the search off, with him still unlocated.”

A Kendal MRT spokesperson said: “He had no torch but he chose to ignore advice to stay put. He said that he had a compass and that he was walking south.

“Search teams covered Crinkle Crags from both the North and the South and the search was later extended to Pike of Blisco and to Cold Pike in wet and windy conditions.”

The rescuers were about to start the search again early on Wednesday when the walker turned up safe and well in Seathwaite, Borrowdale.

Seathwaite is 7km (4⅓ miles) north of Crinkle Crags.

The Langdale spokesperson said: “It’s a mystery where he spent the night.”

The search took nine hours.