This year has provided the usual tales of triumph, tragedy and downright oddness in the great outdoors. Here’s our look back at the events of 2105 as the year draws to a close.

January

The year opened with news from the Met Office that 2014 had been the warmest year on record, with mean temperatures 0.2C higher than the previous warmest achieved in 2006.

Britain’s oldest national conservation body announced it was planning a big picnic to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

The Open Spaces Society said it would hold the event on Wycombe Rye, which it helped save with the High Wycombe Society in 1965. The OSS grew from the Commons Preservation Society, which was founded on 19 July 1865. Its founders would go on to create the National Trust 30 years later.

Tourism bosses announced that a national park would be renamed.

The new name for the Peak District would only apply in China, where some British place names are difficult to translate or even become meaningless in Chinese languages.

The Peak District was one of 101 places around Britain selected by national tourism agency VisitBritain to feature in a campaign which invited Chinese people to come up with the most fitting, amusing, meaningful, and memorable Chinese names.

Glen Coe would become, not surprisingly, Splendid and Beautiful Valley, while Dartmoor a Quirky Wilderness.

Tourist agency VisitBritain sought the opinions of Chinese Mandarin speakers for the most appropriate names in their language for a host of tourist hotspots.

Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales was given the prosaic Mandarin equivalent of White Cliff with Water Crossed.

A film chronicling a year in the life of England’s highest mountain was scheduled for a showing on national television.

Outdoor enthusiast Terry Abraham’s Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike was screened on BBC Four and is still being repeated occasionally.

The film was the Newark, Nottinghamshire-based cinematographer’s second feature-length work since he was made redundant four years previously. Mr Abraham has now turned his attention to Blencathra for his next project.

The row over a national park’s plans to ban wild camping along many of its loch shores intensified as two organisations representing walkers, climbers and mountaineers condemned the proposals.

The Mountaineering Council of Scotland called the planned ban ‘disgraceful’ while Ramblers Scotland said it had lost confidence in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs authority.

A public consultation on proposals to extend the wild camping ban on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond to the opposite bank, along with several other lochside areas, neared completion.

The body of a missing man was found on Helvellyn.

At the height of the search for the walker, 62 mountain rescue team members were involved in looking for Michael Flanagan, 45, of London, who had been reported missing after failing to check out of his hotel.

It is believed he might have lain on the mountain for four days before being found.

A gamekeeper was jailed for four months for killing a protected bird of prey.

George Mutch of Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire, was found guilty of four offences involving goshawks and a buzzard.

It was believed to be the first time a gamekeeper has been jailed for wildlife crime involving raptors.

Ultrarunner Pavel Paloncy successfully defended his title in the UK’s most brutal race.

The Czech runner won The Spine Race in a record-breaking time of 3 days 19hrs 34 minutes.

The runner arrived at the finish point in Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders 19 minutes behind Cork-based runner Eoin Keith, but in a race interrupted by diversions and forced stoppages due to storms, the Irishman’s race time was actually four hours slower than Paloncy’s.

A huge search in appalling weather for a mystery mountain biker in the Cheviots was called off when Northumbria Police said they were no longer searching for a missing man.

Police said they believed the man gave hotel staff a false name and false information about going cycling on the Cheviots and was not actually missing.

Volunteers from three mountain rescue teams spent a night scouring the hills around Wooler after a man called David Bibby was reported missing. He failed to return to his hotel, the Black Bull in the Northumberland town, after telling staff he was ‘going for a long ride’.

A Peak District rescue team appealed for information after thieves put one of its rescue vehicles out of action.

Edale Mountain Rescue Team said when its volunteers turned out to a rescue, they discovered parts had been stripped from one of its Land Rover ambulances.

Driving lights and a snorkel kit, which allows air to be drawn into the engine from a high position, enabling it to drive through flood water, were missing from the vehicle.

England’s third-highest mountain claimed its second victim of the year when David Barrow, 63, of Widnes, died after falling 1,000ft.

The injured man died of his injuries in hospital after the incident on Helvellyn.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called by Cumbria police following reports of two men having fallen from Swirral Edge into Brown Cove.

The group, from Widnes, was descending from Helvellyn when one slipped a short distance from the Swirral Edge ridge; a second person then slipped and fell approximately 300m as he was trying to descend to go to the aid of his fallen friend. A third member of the party was helped off the hill by a passing walker and was taken down to Patterdale rescue base.

Mountain rescuers were called out to a Derbyshire church after an appeal for help for a woman who had suffered arm and hip injuries while bellringing.

In a departure from the team’s usual stomping ground, Derby Mountain Rescue Team had to negotiate a narrow spiral staircase to reach the woman in the bell tower of a church. The injured bellringer was placed in a vacuum mattress before being carried down the steps.

The Westminster Government said it was committed to an outright ban on the controversial fracking of gas and oil in national parks.

And the Holyrood administration also called for a halt to any new ‘unconventional’ gas or oil developments in Scotland.

The coalition Government said its commitment was to an outright ban on fracking in national parks, sites of special scientific interest and areas of outstanding natural beauty. It said it had previously published guidance that planning permission should be refused in national parks, the broads and areas of outstanding natural beauty, except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated they are in the public interest.

A climber died after being avalanched on a mountain in Torridon in the north-west Highlands.

Max Norman, 41, of Ipswich, was with another, winter climbing on Liathach when they were hit by the avalanche.

A search was launched when the pair, from Suffolk, failed to return from a climbing trip to Coireag Dubh Mòr on the northern side of the mountain. Torridon and Kinlochewe Mountain Rescue Team members were joined in the search by a Coastguard helicopter from Stornoway on Lewis.

February

The man in the hot seat at Scotland’s first national park told grough why he thought the controversial proposals to ban camping on many of its loch shores were vital to conserve the environment of the park.

Gordon Watson took over as chief executive of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority at a time when park bosses were embroiled in a war of words with outdoor campaigners.

The Glasgow-born chief was no stranger to the controversy. He was director of operations at the Balloch-based authority before stepping up to head the organisation. The proposals to ban wild camping along the lochsides of many popular areas in the park followed a similar scheme set up along the east shore of Loch Lomond in 2011 in response to anti-social behaviour, drunkenness and environmental damage by campers.

A community group sought the help of outdoor enthusiasts to preserve a historic helicopter that had carried out numerous rescues on Scotland’s mountains.

The Morayvia charity said it wanted to keep one of the familiar yellow RAF Sea King search and rescue aircraft at its Scottish base after it goes out of service at the end of March.

The group was trying to raise funds to buy the Lossiemouth-based helicopter, but it has also launched a petition to persuade MoD bosses not send the aircraft for disposal.

In June, the Morayvia group would announce it had secured an RAF Sea King Mark III, which would go on display at its base at Kinloss.

A prime piece of Lake District real estate was put up for sale by the national park’s authority.

Stickle Tarn, in the shadow of Pavey Ark and Jack’s Rake, was placed on the market by park bosses.

Agents acting for the national park authority put a guide price of between £20,000 and £30,000 for the tarn, which is actually a reservoir formerly used to supply the Elterwater Gunpowder Works.

Six other plots of Lakeland land were put up for sale by tender, with three woodland areas expected to fetch at least £100,000 each.

If all seven properties realised their guide prices, the sell-off would boost the Lake District National Park Authority’s coffers by half a million pounds.

Mountain rescuers warned hillgoers of the limitations of traction spikes in full winter conditions after they had to rescue a man sharing a pair with his friend.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team was called out on to aid a man attempting to come down from Snowdon who had been halted by cramp. The 36-year-old was on the mountain with a friend, each of them wearing one of the spikes.

Campaigners urged the Scottish Parliament to enshrine the right for walkers to use railway crossings.

Ramblers Scotland said the right of access over more than 400 ‘private’ crossings was disputed by Network Rail, the publicly owned body responsible for rail infrastructure.

The charity, which has 6,500 members and represents walkers’ interests north of the border, said the railway authorities have been uncooperative over the matter, and it was using the 10th anniversary of the implementation of Scotland’s right to roam legislation to press for a review of the problem.

Ordnance Survey announced sales of conventional paper maps produced by Britain’s official mapping agency increased the previous year, bucking the trend in the past decade which saw people opting for digital versions.

Ordnance Survey said it sold 3 per cent more paper maps in 2014 and the increase is continuing, with a 7 per cent rise in its current financial year.

A man died in an underground accident in a cave in the Yorkshire Dales.

The 50-year-old caver from Lancaster was caught in a rockfall in Bull Pot in Kingsdale.

A third man died after an incident on England’s third highest mountain.

The climber was found unconscious at the foot of the mountain’s headwall above Red Tarn following a major search by more than 40 mountain rescue volunteers from five teams.

John Chadwick, 68, of Gamblesby in the Eden Valley, was stretchered from the site to a search and rescue helicopter which flew him to hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, but died a short time after arriving at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

The winter might be the sunniest on record, the Met Office said.

The UK will have seen more sun than in any winter since records began, it said. The previous top year for winter sunshine was 2001, with 189 hours.

An American footwear brand opened a European manufacturing base four years after setting up its own factory in Portland, Oregon.

Keen announced three of its walking shoe models, including the Durand, launched the previous year, would be made at its new factory in Romania.

A man who collapsed at the feet of rescuers after falling 650ft from England’s third-highest mountain was described as ‘one lucky chap’.

The 28-year-old survived a 200m fall in whiteout conditions on Helvellyn, where three people had died in recent weeks.

He stumbled into a group of mountain rescuers who were training below the ridge from which he fell and, after being assessed, was found to have only minor injuries.

The coalition Government said it had no plans to privatise Britain’s national mapping agency.

Ordnance Survey was being converted into a government-owned company, prompting fears that the organisation was being lined up to be sold off.

The Southampton-based agency was run as a trading fund, which means it had to be self-financing. Business and innovation minister Matthew Hancock announced the change of status, saying it would enable Ordnance Survey to operate more flexibly and efficiently.

The UK’s civilian search and rescue helicopter was officially launched at one of the bases first in line to take over from the familiar Sea Kings of the RAF and Royal Navy.

Coastguard aircraft operated by a subsidiary of the Texas-based Bristow would gradually take on the duties formerly operated by military helicopters from 1 April.

Transport minister John Hayes joined representatives of the new service and guests at a ceremony at Humberside Airport. The base, near Immingham, would be one of the first to become operational, along with one at Inverness.

Mountain rescuers put their lives on the line to rescue a group of inexperienced hillwalkers on Britain’s highest mountain after three of the men fell more than 600ft.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said much of their gear was also trashed in a major operation to rescue four walkers on Ben Nevis.

The protracted rescue involved 26 of the team’s volunteers working in conditions of high avalanche risk. The operation was made more difficult by the walkers’ refusal to stay put as instructed, resulting in two of them falling more than 200m after their companion had tumbled a similar distance in Coire Eòghainn on the south side of the 1,344m (4,409ft) mountain.

March

A man was rescued by two walkers after clinging to a trig pillar on a Peak District in high winds for an hour.

The walker called for help when he became hypothermic on the summit of Mam Tor as the hill was swept by sleet and gales.

Edale Mountain Rescue Team was alerted by police to a person ‘stuck due to winds’ on the 517m (1,696ft) peak.

The man had travelled from Nottingham to get an early start to take pictures on the hill.

Outdoor enthusiasts were urged to walk the Pennine Way in a day to mark the 50th birthday of the UK’s first national trail.

But walkers weren’t expected to achieve the superhuman feat of covering the full 431km (268-mile) route in 24 hours.

National Trails, the website detailing the 15 official long-distance trails in England and Wales, encouraged members of the public to tackle one of 50 circular routes that together covered the full distance of the Pennine Way, which runs from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.

Four more walkers were rescued after falling from Britain’s highest mountain when they strayed on to steep ground in a whiteout.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team joked that they would have to put a fence around the rim of Coire Eòghainn to stop people falling into it after recent rescues in the corrie

A Lake District beauty spot would remain in public hands for the time being after national park bosses failed to find a suitable buyer.

Lake District bosses announced Stickle Tarn would remain in public hands for the time being after they failed to find a suitable buyer.

It been put on the market by the Lake District National Park Authority, along with seven other properties it owned.

But the authority said it had not found a buyer who satisfied its own stipulations and those of local communities.

The authority sold two properties to private buyers and said it was looking at a charity as a potential owner for a third. No bids were received for four of the parcels of land that were put on the market.

Friends of the Lake District said it would be involved in negotiations with the park authority to come to a deal on taking on Stickle Tarn.

A walker died after falling 1,000ft from a Scottish mountain.

The man fell about 300m from the Ptarmigan ridge on Ben Lomond after slipping in winter conditions.

Lomond Mountain Rescue Team was called out when the walker fell into Leac na Cailliche, north-west of the 974m (3,196ft) summit of the most southerly munro. He was walking with two friends.

The body of a walker was found on Cruach Ardrain near Crianlarich the same day.

Police said its Forth Valley officers were joined by Killin Mountain Rescue Team and a search and rescue helicopter in the operation on Sunday morning after concern was expressed for the 34-year-old walker’s safety.

The Scottish Government announced ambitious plans to add 30 new long-distance routes to its network of trails in a bid to equal the best in Europe.

The proposals would see an extra 500 miles (800km) added to Scotland’s walking trails, cycleways and canal towpaths.

Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil unveiled the plans, devised by Scottish Natural Heritage, Sustrans and Scottish Canals, in an effort to give people more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and travel sustainably.

The civilian search and rescue helicopter base at Inverness was officially launched as the RAF service entered its final few days in the area.

The Coastguard centres at Inverness and Humberside were the first to take over rescue helicopter duties, including the support of the UK’s volunteer mountain rescue teams.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency runs the operation, progressively taking over duties from the military crews and aircraft that have been a familiar sight to hillgoers in distress for decades. The helicopters for the Coastguard service are being provided by a subsidiary of Texas-based Bristow, which won a 10-year contract in 2013.

A missing walker was found in Coire Eòghainn on Ben Nevis, the fourth such incident in the corrie in recent weeks.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was joined by colleagues from the Glencoe team and members of the Joint Services Training Centre in the hunt for the missing hillgoer on Ben Nevis.

The search had been suspended overnight and resumed at first light with a Sea King search and rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth.

Cumbrians demanded the return of a crucial piece of England’s highest mountain, which an artist admitted taking.

Tourism bosses said they wanted Ecuadorian artist Oscar Santillan to give back the small stone taken from Scafell Pike.

The rock featured in an exhibition at the London gallery Copperfields, and was described by the exhibition organisers as the uppermost inch of the highest mountain in England. It formed part of Santillan’s The Intruder, which has the stone embedded in a pedestal.

Rescuers searching for a walker missing in the Highlands found a body.

The discovery was made in the Ben Oss area by teams hunting for Daniel Bennett, who had last been seen in Tyndrum.

Police had appealed to walkers for sightings of the experienced hillwalker, who had not made contact since being seen at the Green Welly Stop in the village on Saturday.

A veteran mountain rescuer retired after 30 years with his team.

Gordon Kay was presented with a long-service certificate by Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team to mark the achievement.

Mountain rescue teams in the Lake District hoped to cut the number of callouts with 40,000 safety leaflets which to be distributed to visitors to the national park.

Guidebook publishers Cicerone backed the scheme, which followed an increase in the number of incidents to which the volunteer rescuers responded.

April

Mountain rescuers raised their profile with the release of a film showing the work of volunteer team members.

The six-minute video was shot across various locations in England and Wales and aimed to show the wider world what mountain rescue entails.

The drama, using real search and rescue volunteers, was produced and co-directed by Dave Freeborn, a film-maker who happens also to be a member and former team leader of one of the country’s busiest teams, Patterdale, which covers Helvellyn.

The crew of the search and rescue Sea King helicopter based at RAF Valley on Anglesey carried out the flight’s 10,000th rescue when it went to the aid of an injured walker.

The incident was one of four rescues on a busy day that the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was called to deal with.

A group that was instrumental in the establishment of Britain’s first national trail announced it was to disband, in the year the route celebrated 50 years’ existence.

It was the second time the Pennine Way Association dissolved itself in response to changing circumstances.

Its members voted to wind up the group at its annual meeting. Its work will be passed on to an organisation based in Hebden Bridge which said it hopes to continue the association’s website in an updated form.

Television adventurer Bear Grylls was appointed head of the UK’s Scouting movement for a further three years.

The Scout Association announced he would continue as Chief Scout until 2018.

More than half a million young people and adult leaders belong to the association, the country’s largest co-educational movement.

A conservation charity said it wanted to see lynx reintroduced to the UK and, if this is successful, wolves should also be released into the wild.

The John Muir Trust, named after the Scots-born advocate of national parks, said it supports the immediate reintroduction of beavers, after a limited five-year trial.

The charity released its policy on ‘rewilding’ parts of the country, which it supports.

Amateur hill sleuth Myrddyn Phillips and collaborator Aled Williams went in search of the remotest hills in Wales. They detailed their results, which were published in an online booklet.

Seekers of peace and quiet might have been disappointed to learn that one of the nation’s remotest peaks is one where you are least likely to find yourself alone on the summit.

A boxer dog was found after being lost for two days on a Scottish mountain.

Jax was left on Ben Vane after his owner was airlifted to hospital when he fell and injured himself.

Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team members could not find the two-year old dog and the animal’s owner Ashley Tolmie appealed on social media for help in finding Jax.

Ms Tolmie searched the munro herself and several other hillgoers took to the mountain, north of Arrochar. On Tuesday Lomond Mountaineering Club member Chris Miles and Alex Slipchuk began a search of the 916m (3,005ft) peak and announced on Facebook they had ‘Got him’.

Rescuers found the body of a walker who had gone missing more than two weeks previously on Ben Nevis.

The crew of a Royal Navy helicopter spotted the body of Kyle Knox in Surgeon’s Gully.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team members had been continuing the search regularly on their days off after the initial hunt for the 23-year-old Londoner had to be called off because of severe weather and high avalanche risk. RAF Mountain Rescue Team members also continued to help in the operation.

A rescue team and its supporters lit up a Snowdonia mountain in a spectacular display to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Members of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation lined the North Ridge of Tryfan with torches to outline the mountain against the evening sky.

And a visit from RAF Valley’s Sea King helicopter completed the scene with a fly-over to add illumination.

A dog belonging to a celebrity visitor to the Lake District led rescuers on a chase across the fells in an attempt to capture it.

Tiger, belonging to television comedian and musician Bill Bailey, went missing on the mountains above Buttermere.

The dog managed to escape capture for a couple of hours as volunteers from Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team tried to round it up. The television celebrity would later treat the team to a free evening at his show in Carlisle.

Helvellyn claimed its fourth victim of the year when a walker has died after falling more than 300ft on the mountain.

The 75-year-old man fell about 100m from Striding Edge, suffering fatal injuries in the fall from the ridge.

One of the country’s new civilian search and rescue helicopters was used for the first time in a live mountain rescue in England.

The Humberside-based Sikorsky S-92 flew to the Peak District to help Edale Mountain Rescue Team deal with a badly injured paraglider who crashed on Mam Tor

The winner of a gruelling long-distance fell race triumphed after travelling to the Yorkshire Dales after a night shift working as a firefighter.

Cumbrian Ricky Lightfoot took a few hours out of his working life to post an impressive win in the Three Peaks Race, before heading back north to start another shift fighting fires.

The Salomon International Team racer arrived back at Horton in Ribblesdale in a time of 2hrs 51mins 42secs, just over a minute and half faster than his winning time in 2014, despite running in heavy rain, sleet and cold conditions in the race, dubbed the ‘marathon with mountains’.

A number of mountaineers were feared dead after a huge avalanche struck Everest Base Camp, triggered by a major earthquake in Nepal.

Nepal authorities said the death toll throughout the country was likely to be more than 2,000, after the earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck the Kathmandu Valley.

Aftershocks caused further falls of snow and rock, and the route through the Khumbu icefall, used by climbers on the ascent of the world’s highest mountain, means climbers above base camp, at camps one and two, will have difficulty descending.

A Scottish national park authority approved plans to ban camping along lochshores in its area.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs authority’s board unanimously agreed to the proposals, which were described as disappointing by walkers’ groups.

The plans, which would see bylaws introduced to prohibit camping along lochshores besides roads, would then go to the Scottish Government for final approval.

The authority wanted to create four camping management bylaw zones on its busiest lochshores, covering 3.7 per cent of the park’s total area, where environmental damage and anti-social behaviour have been an increasing problem over recent years.

Retailers from across Europe provided 300 winter jackets for homeless people in a coat swap organised by insulation brand PrimaLoft.

The swap took place at the giant ISPO trade show in Munich, where retailers were encouraged to hand over their used coats for a new PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Down Blend jacket.

PrimaLoft representatives handed over the 300 coats and jackets to homeless charity St Bonifaz, at an abbey in the city that hosts the show.

The writer of a hit historical television drama condemned as ‘insane’ a plan to build a windfarm at a wild Scottish moor used as a location for the series.

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon said the landscape value of Rannoch Moor should not be sacrificed for the small amount of power the proposed turbines would provide.

VisitScotland featured the moor on a map of key locations tourists can search out as locations for the television episodes.

Opponents of the Talladh a Bheithe wind farm, near Loch Rannoch, challenged the tourism body to speak out against the plans, which were submitted by Netherlands-based developer, Eventus.

May

A learned body said Britons were losing their way when it comes to map reading – because of their reliance on technology.

Basic navigation skills were being lost as we become increasingly dependent on electronic gadgets to guide us, it said.

The Royal Institute of Navigation called on UK schools to teach basic skills in finding their way to counteract the fact society is being ‘sedated by software’

The London-based organisation, which was founded 68 years ago, said teaching navigation is a way to develop character, independence and an appreciation of maths and science.

A walker died after falling from a crag while tackling a long-distance route.

The woman from Bolton in Greater Manchester was undertaking the Coast to Coast Walk when she fell about 18m (60ft) near Anglers’ Crag overlooking Ennerdale Water.

Outdoor brand Berghaus scored a British first with its adoption of the bluesign system.

bluesign is scheme that works with chemical suppliers, textile mills and component manufacturers to eliminate harmful substances from the supply chain, ensuring that products are safe for consumers, workers and the environment.

Led by its corporate sustainability officer Elaine Gardiner, Berghaus worked with bluesign and its supply chain to ensure that its products meet demanding requirements in terms of hazardous substances, worker safety and environmental protection.

A climber died after falling from sea cliffs in Cornwall.

The 34-year-old man fell while climbing at Gull Rock, south of Marsland Mouth.

Almost 2,000 young people completed a gruelling test of their trekking endurance and navigation across Dartmoor.

Nine out of 10 participants in the annual Ten Tors Challenge managed to finish the course, held over two days across the national park.

The start saw 2,190 teenagers set off from Okehampton camp in the Army-organised event, run in its 55th year in their quest to cover 35, 45 or 55 miles across the northern slopes of Dartmoor, carrying up to 15kg of tents, bedding, food, water, clothing and other equipment as they went.

Walkers in the Lake District had the chance to view an artistic addition to the landscape.

The bright red PaperBridge straddled a beck in Grisedale at the foot of England’s third highest mountain Helvellyn.

The bridge was installed as part of the Lakes Culture project by artist Steve Messam. It formed part of the Lakes Ignite spring arts programme.

More artistic endeavour was on show in a 26ft-high wooden pyramid designed by a team of young architects, which was unveiled on the banks of Loch Lomond.

The 8m viewing platform An Ceann Mòr was opened by Scottish Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead at Inveruglas on the western shore of the loch.

The structure was the fourth and final installation in the first pilot project for Scottish Scenic Routes, a Scottish Government project designed to encourage visitors travelling along scenic tourist routes to stop and see views in a new way, helping to boost the local economy.

Two of Britain’s climbing elder statesmen announced they would lead a new expedition to climb the height of Everest to help victims of the Nepal earthquakes.

Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott launched the scheme, which would see climbers attempt to scale 29,000 feet, at the start of the Keswick Mountain Festival.

The pair would lead a quest to climb the height of Everest, 8,848m on the ice wall at King Kong Climbing Centre in Keswick and invited up to 240 members of the public to join the climb.

A mountain rescue team warned lives might be put at risk following the theft of vital gear from one of its doctors.

North East Wales Search and Rescue team member Dr Tom Beach had his vehicle broken into and a rucksack containing his equipment stolen.

The team said he might not be able to participate in callouts because of the theft.

The crime happened hours after the doctor took part in a rescue on Moel Famau in north-east Wales. His vehicle was parked outside his home in Wavertree, Liverpool, when it was targeted by thieves and gear worth more than £1,300 taken.

Members of a Snowdonia mountain rescue team shared a formal dinner with RAF colleagues – on top of a 3,000ft peak.

Walkers reaching the summit of Tryfan were surprised to find the groups celebrating the end of their working relationship with an ‘extreme dine’ at the top of the mountain.

The poignant event marked both the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation’s 50th anniversary and the impending end of search and rescue operations for the crew of C Flight, 22 Squadron, at RAF Valley on Anglesey, which handed over the role to civilian Coastguard helicopters in July.

A climber died after a fall on a Yorkshire Dales crag.

The woman was on Oxenber Scar near Austwick when she fell while descending between climbs.

Ambulance staff and members of the Cave Rescue Organisation went to the scene but were unable to revive the 74-year-old.

An animal charity appealed to hillwalkers to solve the mystery of a dog found on top of England’s highest mountain.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was caring for a collie-cross discovered by a couple of holidaymakers on Scafell Pike.

The pair, from Maybole in Ayrshire, took the dog home after failing to find his owners despite contacting police.

The dog was reunited with its owner a few days later.

The dog, christened Scafell by the charity that took him in, was actually called Sid and belongs to a Cumbrian sheep farmer.

A member of a mountain rescue team clocked up more than 60 years’ service helping outdoor enthusiasts in distress.

Chris Baker, who had served with the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association since 1953, received a certificate from a mountain rescue luminary to mark his achievement.

Mr Baker, one of the longest-serving rescue volunteers in the UK, received the award from Mountain Rescue England and Wales president Peter Bell at a gathering of his colleagues in Threshfield, near the team’s base in Grassington, North Yorkshire.

A rescue team stood down its search after one of its specialist dogs went missing.

Elmo, a trained dog with Surrey Search and Rescue, was taken from team leader John Torrance’s home.

But the story had a happy ending after a member of the public found Elmo, safe and well.

A woman died after falling from a mountain in Snowdonia.

The 70-year-old walker was found at the base of crags on Tryfan after her partner made his way off the mountain after falling himself.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was first alerted on when other members of a group tackling the North Ridge became worried when their companions failed to return after splitting from them.

The company that owns the Cotswold Outdoor stores snapped up a rival retailer.

AS Adventure Group announced it had acquired the Snow & Rock Group.

The stores’ new owners said they would enhance the existing group by extending its activities into snow, cycling and running.

A huge search for a walker missing in Lochaber began and would continue over a number of weeks.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was joined by colleagues from the Glencoe team and search dogs in the hunt for 62-year-old Eric Cyl.

He was believed to set off for a trip in the Ring of Steall area, but searches for the walker were unsuccessful.

The charity that cares for mountain shelters in the UK received an honour from the Queen.

The Mountain Bothies Association gained the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

The MBA was one of 187 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the UK to receive the award this year.

June

Some of the worst eroded paths in Scotland’s national parks were to be repaired and upgraded in a £6m scheme announced.

The Mountains and the People project would also provide training for young people in the scheme, backed by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Mountains to benefit from the project included Ben Lomond, The Cobbler, Ben A’an, Beinn A Ghlo and Lochnagar, with a total of almost 125km (77 miles) of eroded upland paths restored and upgraded. They would then be monitored through an Adopt-a-Path scheme through which regular users of the paths will provide feedback on their condition, enabling problems to be tackled before they become a major issue.

An appeal launched by outdoors brand Sherpa Adventure Gear to help victims of the Nepal earthquakes raised more than £90,000.

The company, based in the country’s capital Kathmandu, also produced tents and shelters for those made homeless in the April disasters.

More than 8,000 people died and 70,000 homes were destroyed in the first earthquake and subsequent tremors. Sherpa said there have been at least 145 aftershocks and these are still continuing.

Two men died after getting into difficulties while swimming in a Snowdonia river.

Two others were taken to hospital after the incident at the Llanberis Waterfall.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team chairman Rob Johnson said three of its members had been exceptionally brave and risked their own lives in rescuing one of the swimmers from the river.

A few days later, the mountain rescue team was put out of action after thieves damaged three of its vehicles.

Llanberis MRT, one of the busiest in the country, said it could not respond to emergencies because its vehicles were unusable.

The team’s patch includes Snowdon, the most popular hillwalking destination in Wales and scene of numerous callouts.

Criminals hit two of the team’s Land Rovers and another vehicle while they were parked at its rescue headquarters in Nant Peris.

Three mountain rescuers were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

All three long-serving volunteers of mountain rescue teams were awarded the MBE.

John Hulse, Dr Geoff Bowen and Stephen Hilditch were named in the honours list. Sadly, Mr Hilditch would die from cancer in November.

Climbers scaled more than the height of Everest to raise cash for victims of the Nepal earthquakes.

Everest summiteers Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott led the climb at Keswick which involved more than 200 volunteers tackling the ice at an indoor wall.

Proceeds from the event went to Community Action Nepal, founded by Scott. More than £36,000 was by participants in the ClimbForCAN venture, which was organised by Sir Chris’s son Rupert.

The American company behind some of the top outdoor brands celebrated its 30th year of manufacturing in Europe.

Cascade Designs set up its factory in Cork to comply with its philosophy of local manufacturing.

The Seattle-based company, which produces gear from Mountain Safety Research, Therm-a-Rest, Platypus, Sealline, PackTowl, E-Case and Hummingbird, opened its base in the Republic of Ireland in 1985, setting up its Cascade Designs Ltd subsidiary to respond to booming trade in Europe.

Ultrarunner Adam Perry had to abandon his attempt to break an 18-year-old Lake District record.

The Helm Hill Runners member was aiming to complete 78 summits in 24 hours over the weekend.

But cramp and difficult conditions put him behind his planned timings and he gave up the challenge on Saturday on the top of Yewbarrow in Wasdale, having bagged 51 peaks.

Another man died after falling from England’s third highest mountain.

Stewart Armstrong of County Durham was on Helvellyn with his son when he fell from Striding Edge, suffering fatal head injuries.

A woolly friend who decided to go for a swim in Lake District reservoir provided a challenge for mountain rescuers.

The Penrith team was called in to help retrieve a sheep that had managed to make its way to an island on Haweswater.

The rescue proved to be a test of the team’s paddling and shepherding skills as the ovine wanderer decided to take a sheep dip.

An outdoors expert who traced his association with a leading brand back more than 40 years retired.

Berghaus stalwart Jon Gale began working with the company soon after its inception at the LD Mountain Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne.

He started working at the Tyneside store in 1973, around the time that Berghaus was making its first branded products. He spent some years away from the brand, working as an instructor in an outdoor centre, before returning and going on to head the training team.

A hillwalker reported missing in the Highlands was found safe and well.

Stephen Russell had apparently been unaware of the search for him after concerns were expressed when he said he was heading for a walk.

Police Scotland said the 43-year-old was found near Invergarry. He was reported missing after being seen in Portree on the Isle of Skye.

Jim Mann won the gruelling five-day Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race after leading from start to end.

The Durham Fell Runners member arrived at the finish with an overall time of 40hrs 8mins, more than 90 minutes ahead of lead woman and second-placed racer Jasmin Paris.

Konrad Rawlik claimed third place, coming in two hours behind her.

North York Moors National Park Authority members narrowly approved the York Potash plans for the world’s biggest potash mine near the route of the Coast to Coast Walk.

The plans were passed by a vote of eight-to-seven at a special meeting called to consider the proposals.

Park authority officers did not make any recommendation in their report to the planning committee. The application was the largest ever received by the authority, and also includes proposals for a 36.5km (23-mile) tunnel to Teesside to transport the mineral.

July

Mountain rescuers in north Wales treated disabled and disadvantaged youngsters to a day in the great outdoors.

The mountain adventure day was hosted by teams from the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association.

Youngsters from four charities attended the event in and around the Ogwen Valley. It was the second time the association has put on the activities for the children and young people, from Centrepoint, WellChild, Child Bereavement and A Place 2B.

The body of a walker who went missing on Arran was found.

David Randle, 73, was reported missing when he failed to return from a walk on Cir Mhòr after setting off from the Glen Rosa campsite.

A national park was put on fire alert after soaring temperatures created tinderbox conditions on its moors.

The North York Moors National Park Authority said it would put up fire-risk warning signs, asking visitors to be on their guard against sparking wildfires.

Campaigners celebrated the fact that up to 1,000 lost paths and bridleways could be reinstated after the Court of Appeal upheld a case based on a law passed more than 200 years ago.

The decision was welcomed by the Ramblers as an important step forward for rights of way and victory for the tenacity of one of its members John Andrews.

Mr Andrews, a former Ramblers footpath secretary, lost a case in 1993 which he was fighting to open up two paths in Crudwell in north Wiltshire.

The Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson, along with two other senior judges, overturned the ruling based on the Inclosure Consolidation Act 1801 and the right of Daniel Trinder, a commissioner appointed to oversee the enclosing of previously common land, to designate public bridleways and footpaths.

Two people died and two others were taken to hospital after they were struck by lightning on south Wales’s highest mountain range.

The walkers were caught in electrical storms on the Pen y Fan range in the Brecon Beacons national park about noon today.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award leader Jez Prescott was one of two men who died on south Wales’s highest mountains in separate strikes.

Another person was hit in a separate lightning strike and taken to hospital, along with a fourth person. Two of the walkers died in hospital.

South Wales’s four mountain rescue teams, Brecon, Longtown, Central Beacons and Western Beacons, worked with the Welsh Ambulance Service and RAF crews to treat the injured walkers and evacuate them from the mountains.

An outdoors brand celebrated helping the planet by using its billionth recycled bottle.

Polartec, whose fabrics are used by numerous outdoor clothing manufacturers, makes its fabrics from clear plastic bottles, which would otherwise to go landfill.

Stacked end-to-end, the billion bottles would reach halfway to the moon, but could also be used to manufacture 27 million new fleece jackets.

One of Britain’s top climbers began an attempt on an Arctic ‘big wall’ four times the height of London’s Shard.

Leo Houlding and a small team of mountaineers hoped to complete a route on the north-west face of the Mirror Wall, a sheer 1,200m (3,937ft) granite cliff in Greenland.

Almost three weeks later, he contacted his sponsors Berghaus to say: “We nailed it!”

The expedition had been hit by bad weather and illness, casting doubt on the team’s ability to climb the route before the scheduled helicopter pick-up tomorrow, Houlding’s 35th birthday.

The Cumbria-based mountaineer and adventurer broke radio silence to give the good news to his sponsors and family that the expedition members had successfully summited the face, four times the height of The Shard in London, and made it safely back to base.

Police released details of another walker believed to be missing in the Steall area of the Highlands.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team and the Inverness Coastguard search and rescue helicopter searched the area for two days for Tom Brown, 65, of Lanarkshire, who had not been seen since checking out of Glen Nevis Youth Hostel.

Rescuers searching for a missing 92-year-old hillwalker found a body.

Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team was called out to look for John Barnes of Mirfield, West Yorkshire, who failed to return from a walk between Holme Moss and Glossop on the West Yorkshire and Derbyshire moors.

A National Police Air Service helicopter flying over the Black Hill area spotted Mr Barnes’s body.

Campaigners welcomed the decision to turn down plans for a windfarm near Glen Affric.

Both the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the John Muir Trust had opposed the proposed development on Beinn Mhòr.

Almost 100 people joined in a Wasdale Fell Care Day, with 11 bags of rubbish collected from Scafell Pike and Wast Water.

A keg of Heineken and a wheel rim were among some of the stranger finds by the volunteers, along with 2m of drainpipe and six feed buckets.

A Swiss outdoor brand’s British staff recreated the ascent of one of the world’s best known mountains to mark the 150th anniversary of its first being climbed.

A five-strong group from Mammut’s Macclesfield office scaled the slopes of Shutlingsloe in the Peak District to commemorate the first ascent of its slightly more foreboding cousin the Matterhorn.

The Matterhorn was first climbed on 14 July 1865 by a team of seven, including British alpinist Edward Whymper.

The widow of one of the three reservist servicemen who died during a special forces proving exercise in the Brecon Beacons challenged the Ministry of Defence to change its procedures.

Bryher Dunsby was speaking after a coroner delivered a narrative verdict on the deaths, which concluded that the men’s deaths were a result of neglect by the Army.

Mrs Dunsby’s husband Corporal James Dunsby died along with Lance Corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts in sweltering heat on the mountains in the summer of 2013.

A new charity was formed to promote the reintroduction of wild species into the countryside.

Rewilding Britain wanted to see animals such as beavers, lynx, pelicans, bison and eventually wolves back on the hills and forests of the country.

The group, inspired and supported by journalist and campaigner George Monbiot, said it had spent the past two years raising funds and gathering different viewpoints from a cross-section of individuals and organisations.

Television presenter and wildlife expert Chris Packham threw his weight behind the campaign group.

A scheme that collects unwanted outdoor gear for re-use by deserving groups gained recognition at a major trade show.

Judges at the OutDoor show in Germany chose the Gift Your Gear system for one of only nine gold awards.

The scheme’s founder Sarah Howcroft said she was very pleased to receive the award on behalf of Gift Your Gear.

A mountain rescue team discovered rubbish scattered on a hillside at the scene of a makeshift camp after it was alerted to flashing lights on the fell.

A member of the public rang the Wasdale team to say they had seen flashing lights on Harter Fell above Eskdale.

The team leader found an abandoned campsite with rubbish everywhere: cans, tent poles, yellow wellies and broken seats.

The Scottish Government rejected controversial plans for a windfarm on the edge of a national park.

Ministers announced they had rejected the proposals by RWE to build 31 turbines at Allt Duine in the Monadhliath Mountains.

They said the windfarm would have had significant environmental impacts on wild land and the Cairngorms national park.

A rescue team topped a poll to take the honours in a UK-wide competition.

Border Search and Rescue Unit won the Rural Community Champions award, beating more than 100 other organisations nominated for the accolade.

The annual contest, held by nationwide business Agrii, recognises contributions to rural life.

August

Two walkers were rescued after getting lost in the dark when they were chased by a pair of sheep.

The men were found about 200m from where they had set off, after reporting they had been pursued by wild animals.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called out after the pair rang for help. They had set off for a short walk from the Helvellyn Youth Hostel at Greenside near Glenridding but got lost when night fell.

The pair said they became scared after some ‘wild animals’ chased them.

A cyclist died after falling 50ft from a bridge in the Yorkshire Dales.

Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association members were called out to the incident at Dibble’s Bridge near Hebden.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service requested the team’s help at the site, and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance also flew to the scene, an accident black spot on the B6265 between Grassington and Pateley Bridge.

The cyclist was named as consultant cardiologist George Ballard, 41, of Ilkley.

A mountain rescue team formed in response to the death of two shepherds in a blizzard announced it would celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team was established in 1965 by volunteer wardens of the national park.

The team planned to hold a black-tie ball in Newcastle upon Tyne in autumn as part of the celebrations and fundraising events.

A team of rescuers was overwhelmed by the generous response to its appeal for cash for a new vehicle.

Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Ashburton hoped to raise £20,000 to help buy a replacement control van, but its fund topped £34,000.

It meant the volunteer rescuers will be able to buy and fit out an essential vehicle to replace one that only scraped through its last MoT test.

A dog was rescued after surviving a 600ft fall from south Wales’s highest mountain.

Spaniel Woody leapt from the summit of Pen y Fan in pursuit of a stone thrown by a member of the public and tumbled 200m.

Dyfed-Powys Police called out Brecon Mountain Rescue Team after it received calls that members of the public were putting themselves in danger on the mountain’s north-east face while trying to help the animal.

The body of a missing hillwalker was found on the slopes of Britain’s highest mountain.

Ian Bell failed to return from a walk on Carn Mòr Dearg and a search was launched.

The body of the 60-year-old from Hertfordshire was found in a gully in Coire Eòghainn.

In the same week a second walker died after falling from a ridge on Ben Nevis.

Steven Fogg, 56, from the Aboyne area, was with two others on the Carn Mòr Dearg Arête when he slipped and fell.

The grim week continued when the body of a missing hillwalker was found in the Highlands.

The discovery brought the death toll of walkers in Lochaber in the past week to three.

The 60-year-old was reported missing after failing to return from a walk in the Grey Corries.

Christopher Reddick of Ascot in Berkshire failed to return from a walk in the area.

His body was found by rescuers in the Coire Choimlidh area north of Stob Coire an Laoigh

Outdoor fans were able to use a new cafe, more than 2,000ft up in the Lake District fells.

But walkers and mountain bikers had to be quick – the ‘pop-up’ restaurant was only in business for one Sunday.

Friends of Penrith Mountain Rescue Team cooked up treats on the Nan Bield Pass in a repeat of their successful earlier fundraising enterprise.

Moorland landowners said the year’s grouse shooting season had been hit by what it called ‘calamitous’ conditions.

The Moorland Association said about 40 per cent of shooting days would be lost.

The organisation said extreme weather had affected grouse and other moorland wildlife on England’s uplands.

Police investigated the death of a bird of prey on remote moorland near the Southern Upland Way in South Lanarkshire.

The hen harrier’s body was found near Daer Reservoir in Clydesdale.

Tests carried out by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland revealed the raptor had been shot.

A series following a group of mountain rescue volunteers returned to television screens.

The cast of Mountain Goats was described by the BBC as a ‘ragtag group of mountain rescue volunteers’.

Set in Glen Coe, the comedy series returned to air after a pilot episode, for a series of six half-hour programmes.

The body of a missing holidaymaker was found on a ridge on the Isle of Skye.

Kamai Yusuke, 29, from Japan, had been reported missing after failing to return to his accommodation in Portree.

Police Scotland said Mr Yusuke’s body was found in the Trotternish Ridge area after a member of the public contacted them.

Adventurer and television presenter Bear Grylls opened a rescue team’s new headquarters.

The Everest summiteer joined Aberglaslyn Mountain Rescue Team members to unveil a plaque at their new base near Porthmadog.

He was presented with two glass tankards with hand-engraved team logos and was also made an honorary member of the team, with a certificate to mark his new status.

Outdoor brand Alpkit set up a charity aimed at helping people get outdoors.

The Nottinghamshire based company said its new Alpkit Foundation would help individuals, schools and expedition leaders organise trips which would not otherwise be possible.

The brand will donate one per cent of its monthly sales to the independent charity, with a pledge that a minimum of Alpkit’s annual profit will be donated to the foundation.

A national park announced plans to sell off 12 of its woodlands.

The Peak District National Park Authority said six will be put on the market, with a further half dozen before the end of the year.

The authority, along with other English national parks, had its grant cut by 40 per cent by the previous coalition Government.

It was announced Scotland would gain one new national nature reserve, but lose six.

The new Great Trossachs Forest reserve would be the UK’s biggest, Scottish National Heritage announced.

But six other NNRs, including one surrounding the munro Ben Lui, where a proposed gold mine has been approved, were ‘de-declared’ by SNH’s board. Members decided to keep under review the future of a seventh at Glen Roy, home to the geologically important parallel roads.

Police appealed for witnesses to an incident on Wales’s highest mountain.

North Wales Police said a nine-year-old boy was allegedly hit across his head and the back of his leg near the summit of Snowdon.

A group that wants to reintroduce lynx, bison, beavers and even wolves into Britain appointed its first director.

Helen Meech joined the Rewilding Britain organisation from the National Trust.

One of TV character Alan Partridge’s desperate ideas for a programme finally hit the screen.

The fictional radio presenter’s increasingly surreal pitches to TV executive Tony Hayers included Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank.

And the former WBO middleweight world champion finally starred in an, admittedly, short film of his experience at one of YHA’s properties.

The 55-second YouTube film Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank became an overnight internet sensation.

A dog escaped serious injury after falling 150ft (46m) from a Lake District ridge.

Rescuers said the black labrador, Archie, had a lucky escape when he fell from Sharp Edge on Blencathra.

The two-year old dog slipped at the bad step on the ridge and fell down the gully on the northern side of Sharp Edge.

Vital lifesaving equipment was left strewn across the slopes of England’s highest mountain after a mountain rescue stretcher box was emptied.

A passing Mountain Instructor came across the contents of the rescue box near Mickledore, the col between England’s two highest peaks, Scafell Pike and Scafell.

Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team, which maintains the stretcher box, said someone might have emptied the equipment from the rescue post to use it as a shelter.

A worker maintaining a footpath near a popular climbing crag discovered a Bronze Age pot containing human remains.

The cremation urn, believed to be about 3,500 years old, was found on The Roaches nature reserve in the Peak District.

Contractor Kieran Fogarty came across the earthenware artefact while digging a trench to reinforce a popular footpath at the site near Leek.

Britain’s oldest national conservation body accused a council of shooting itself in the foot by cutting back on paths budget.

The Open Spaces Society said Derbyshire County Council’s plans to reduce rights of way staff would significantly increase the time it takes to deal with problems.

It made its comments in a questionnaire on the council’s plans to ease its performance on its statutory duties.

Britain’s official film charity unearthed footage of the remarkable journey of a vintage car down the UK’s highest mountain.

The five-minute film of the 1911 publicity stunt by Edinburgh Ford dealer Henry Alexander driving a Model T down Ben Nevis was made available to view on the British Film Institute’s website.

September

Britain’s busiest volunteer mountain rescue team announced it had just clocked up its busiest ever month.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, whose area includes Wales’s highest mountain Snowdon, was called out 34 times in August, a record for the organisation.

On one day, the team was called out five times in seven hours. Many of the incidents could be avoided by walkers going prepared on to the mountains of north Wales, the team’s chairman said.

Rescuers found the body of an experienced walker who had fallen on a Snowdonia mountain.

Stephen Longfellow was spotted by the crew of a Coastguard search and rescue helicopter on Tryfan on Friday and members of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation.

The 64-year-old retired teacher from Leeds had fallen some distance on the mountain, a rescue team spokesman said.

Campaigners welcomed a decision to withdraw plans for fencing on a Lake District common.

United Utilities said it wanted to carry out consultations on alternatives to the fence on land above Thirlmere.

The Open Spaces Society, which was one of the organisations opposing the move, said it was delighted at the water company decision.

Three amateur surveyors who use professional equipment to accurately measure the height of hills turned their attention to two munro tops that were close to the qualifying altitudes for the official tables.

There was good news for one pretender; less good news for one peak on the list.

Campaigners said the beauty of a national park was threatened by plans to build a power line with pylons as high as Nelson’s Column.

The Friends of the Lake District said the proposed pylons would form the largest electricity infrastructure project in the UK, in the West of the national park.

The group said the power transmission line, to serve a new nuclear power station near the existing Sellafield installation, would be a dreadful addition to a national park currently seeking world heritage status.

Vandals damaged a vital piece of equipment belonging to a mountain rescue team.

A radio repeater used by the Woodhead team was vandalised and its battery stolen.

The team said that, without the repeater, communications between team members would be affected and it could take longer to reach casualties.

The body of a missing walker was found near Crosby Ravensworth Fell in the area of Hardendale Quarry.

Mountain rescuers from across the Lake District and Cumbria had been searching for 78-year-old Yvonne Mullen, who left her home to walk her Staffordshire bull terrier.

The body of a missing paraglider was found on a Lake District fell.

Mountain rescue teams found the man on Fleetwith Pike, overlooking Buttermere.

The 38-year-old had been reported overdue after setting off on a flight from the Loweswater area.

The body of a missing hillrunner was found on a Highland mountain.

Rescuers found the Alex Brett’s body on Liathach, almost a week since he was last seen.

The 65-year-old experienced hillrunner was also a member of the Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team, one of the volunteer groups that was involved in the search for him.

A rescue team posted an official complaint to television bosses over scenes in a programme featuring a renowned adventurer.

The Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation said an episode of ITV’s Britain’s Biggest Adventures with Bear Grylls showed a total disregard for safety in the outdoors.

The rescue team’s chair Heather Eastwood wrote to the channel expressing horror at some of the activities the star of the programme undertook, including heading into the Long Churn cave system near Selside without basic equipment, following heavy rain.

Sport climbing passed its latest pitch to become an Olympic sport.

Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 games included the activity as one of five that will be considered by the International Olympic Committee to be staged at the event.

Other sports going forward for inclusion are karate, surfing, skateboarding and baseball and softball.

Police appealed for information about a walker who had gone missing after walking in Glen Coe.

Robin Garton, described by officers as an experienced and keen mountaineer, has still not been found.

The 69-year-old, from Wiltshire, had been staying near at the Kingshouse Hotel near Buachaille Etive Mòr.

October

Plans for a multi-million pound visitor centre in a national park were given the green light.

The £14.8m development in Northumberland will be the biggest ever national park construction project.

The Sill National Landscape Discovery Centre will replace the existing Once Brewed visitor centre. The youth hostel at the site will also be demolished.

The trio of hill sleuths responsible for promoting and demoting several peaks from baggers’ records joined a list of their own: dull men.

The three men were among a host of obsessives and eccentrics who figure in a new book, Dull Men of Great Britain.

Myrddyn Phillips, John Barnard and Graham Jackson joined a select band of men who variously collect beer cans, photograph traffic roundabouts or fight to preserve the apostrophe.

One of Britain’s top mountaineers revealed how he had to abandon a Himalayan expedition when his father fell gravely ill.

Kenton Cool received the news while preparing to attempt Nanda Devi East in the Indian Himalaya.

The climber, who has summited Everest 11 times, began a frantic journey back to the UK, but learned his father had died while en route.

He said it was the first time he had ever left an expedition early.

A walker died on a Lake District fell despite efforts by passers-by to save him.

The man was found at the top of Grains Gill near Glaramara.

Rescuers said walkers discovered the man collapsed at the site. He appeared to have hit his head, and the passers-by then discovered he had no pulse, so started performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on him.

Rescuers searching for a walker missing on the Lake District fells found a body.

Three teams and six search dogs and handlers were called out to look for the man, who had not been seen for a week.

Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, along with colleagues from the Keswick team and members of the Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit, joined the search after the walker’s car was found half way down Honister Pass.

A cyclist who was found with serious injuries on a Yorkshire Dales pass died.

The man, in his 50s, was found on the Buttertubs Pass between Hawes and Muker.

The Middlesbrough man was taken to hospital in his home town. Police renewed their appeal for information from anyone who might have seen the cyclist.

A patented bottle that allows the user to choose between plain water and energy drink won the award for top innovation at the annual awards of one of the world’s biggest outdoors and sports retailers.

Aptonia’s Double Use system switches between water and isotonic drink simply by adjusting the drinking spout.

The design was voted top product at the innovations awards held each year by Decathlon in its home town of Lille in northern France.

A walker heading for a Lake District scrambling route discovered a man’s body at the base of a crag.

Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team was called out after the discovery on Horn Crag, in Far Easedale.

The team was alerted about 12.20pm and requested help from Kendal MRT in recovering the 56-year-old Worcester man’s body.

The head of the organisation that cares for Britain’s mountain shelters received a royal accolade on behalf of the charity.

Mountain Bothies Association chairman Simon Birch was presented with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in a ceremony in Bristol.

Bristol’s Lord Lieutenant Mary Prior and Vice Lord-Lieutenant Dr Timothy Chambers handed over the award for the association’s work in restoring and maintaining almost 100 bothies in Scotland, Wales and England.

Public-spirited volunteers removed more than half a ton of rubbish from Britain’s three national peaks.

They believe they managed to find, among other things, a century-old rubbish stash on the UK’s highest mountain.

Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike were the target for the 88 outdoor enthusiasts who cleared the mountains of the collected debris of countless thoughtless hillgoers, some of which was the result of the popular Three Peaks Challenge, in which members of the public attempt to summit all three in 24 hours.

A walker died after collapsing on a Lake District mountain.

The 51-year-old suffered a suspected heart attack while on Skiddaw with two companions.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was alerted and members made their way towards the site at Carl Side col.

An organisation dedicated to preserving the world’s mountain environments was rescued after it was forced to fold when it failed to secure a European Union grant.

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation took over Respect the Mountains, which organised upland clean-up days in Britain.

Respect the Mountains ceased operations in September, but its takeover by the federation, better known by its French initials UIAA, meant it could continue its role promoting sustainable mountain tourism and undertake practical and educational work to protect the world’s mountains.

Outdoor campaigners paid tribute to a former Labour Environment Secretary who died.

Michael Meacher was the architect of the right-to-roam laws that allow walkers in England and Wales to leave footpaths and explore the uplands and uncultivated land.

The Oldham West and Royton MP died after a short illness, aged 75.

A scheme to restore footpaths on an Assynt mountain topped a worldwide poll to win £18,000 of funding.

Outdoor brand Berghaus nominated the project on Suilven for the prize in the Alpine category of the competition run by the European Outdoor Conservation Association.

Members of the public backed the scheme, casting 6,000 votes – 52 per cent of those in the category – beating strong opposition from four other projects in Rwanda, Italy, France and Spain.

The man who founded the organisation that looks after Britain’s mountain shelters joined members to celebrate the charity’s 50th anniversary.

Bernard Heath cut a cake at a gathering in Newtonmore to mark the Mountain Bothies Association’s 50 years, helped by his wife Betty who is also a member.

The MBA’s first restoration project was at Tunskeen in the Galloway Forest, undertaken by Bernard Heath and his friends. The association now looks after almost 100 bothies in Scotland, Wales and England.

The Government announced that two national parks in northern England would be extended.

The long-awaited decision to extend the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District parks was confirmed by Environment Secretary Liz Truss.

The announcement followed two years of delay. Campaigners had expressed frustration at the ‘pathetic’ delay in implementing the plans, which had been delivered to the previous secretary of state Owen Paterson.

An access expert warned the clock is ticking for thousands of public highways.

Phil Wadey, vice-chairman of the Open Spaces Society, warned there are only 10 years left to save unrecorded rights of way in England and Wales.

A clause in the right-to-roam legislation introduced by the Labour Government in 2000 means walkers and riders will lose their right to use many footpaths and bridleways unless they are recorded on official maps.

A man died after collapsing on a Lake District ridge.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team was called out to Swirral Edge on Helvellyn, and the Great North Air Ambulance was scrambled.

The man, in his 50s, was treated by the helicopter’s doctor and paramedic, along with mountain rescuers, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

One of the first Britons to summit the world’s highest mountain revealed his reluctance at writing his autobiography.

Doug Scott who, along with Dougal Haston, survived the highest ever bivouac 100m below Everest’s summit, announced he would speak at the Mountain Arts Festival and launch the first part of his life story at the Rheged event, which was held in aid of the Nepal Earthquake Appeal of his Community Action Nepal charity.

A leading author and outdoors activist backed a campaign to keep giant electricity pylons out of a national park.

Bill Bryson, best known for his Notes from a Small Island and The Road to Little Dribbling, said the Lake District should be nurtured and cherished.

He lent his support to the Friends of the Lake District drive to get National Grid to bury the proposed power line in west Cumbria where it passes through the national park.

A British mountaineering pair made a first ascent on a remote Himalayan peak.

Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden summited Gave Ding, a 6,400m (21,000ft) mountain in the far West of Nepal.

Fowler, who works for HM Revenue and Customs, is renowned for his annual trips to attempt remote Himalayan routes with climbing companion Paul Ramsden.

A rescue team has appealed to hillgoers to remember the ethos of helping others in distress after two incidents on Wales’s highest mountain.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team released details of a Good Samaritan and one who was not so good after two walkers got lost on Snowdon in separate incidents.

A member of the public who had found an exhausted young walker on the summit of the mountain and helped him to safety.

Rescue team members were less impressed by the actions of someone who left a woman stranded on the Pyg track on the mountain.

A potential saviour soon rushed off into the mist ahead, leaving the walker high on the Pyg Track with darkness approaching and no torch.

A number of Llanberis MRT volunteers had to give up their time to go and search a large stretch of the footpath in order to find the lost walker an hour-and-a-half later.

A man who sparked a major search after he was seen with his face covered in blood on a Lake District fell was found safe more than 300 miles away.

Members of the public contacted police after they witnessed Cleator Moor man Christopher Green harming himself near Sty Head.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team mounted a three-hour search for the 21-year-old on the area above Seathwaite in Borrowdale. He was found two days later in London.

Campaigners welcomed a decision by a power company not to push for a controversial windfarm in the Highlands.

Outdoors writer and campaigner Chris Townsend said it was the final nail in the coffin for the proposals to build the turbines at Allt Duine in the Monadhliath Mountains.

Mr Townsend and fellow Save Monadhliath Mountains members welcomed the decision by RWE Innogy not to challenge the Scottish Government decision to reject the section 36 application for 31 turbines at the very edge of the Cairngorms national park.

The Scottish Government turned down plans for a windfarm on a highly sensitive Highlands site because the company applying for permission didn’t exist at the time of the submission.

Opponents of the Rannoch Moor scheme said they highlighted irregularities in the application 10 months ago.

Campaigners, including the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and the John Muir Trust welcomed the rejection as ‘not competent’. They said they hoped there would be no repeat application.

A kayaker died after being dragged unconscious from a Cumbrian river.

The paddler got into difficulties on the Clough River near Sedbergh.

The 28-year-old man was with a group on the river between Hallbank and Farfield Mill, when he went underwater near the mill race.

November

A rescue team’s new high-tech vehicle went into service after a major fundraising effort.

Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue’s incident control van became operational, allowing the team to co-ordinate rescues across its area.

A leading campaigner said she feared for the future of Welsh footpaths if Government proposals went ahead.

Kate Ashbrook said the approach could spread to England if cash-strapped authorities adopt the same view.

Ms Ashbrook, a veteran access advocate and general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said the Welsh Government’s was dismissing the historic and cultural value of public paths – a trend that could cross the border to England.

Campaigners opposed to proposals for a giant mine in a national park said they would not mount a legal challenge to planners’ decision.

The Campaign for National Parks took legal advice on its options following the North York Moors authority’s go-ahead for the York Potash plans.

It said it will now concentrate its efforts on trying to ensure no similar developments are allowed in the future.

Scotland’s official outdoors body clamped down on four properties where it said there was evidence of wildlife crime.

Scottish Natural Heritage suspended the use of general licences in two wildlife crime hotspots covered by the farms and estates, restricting the ability to control wild birds.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland welcomed the move in the two areas, one in the Borders and the other in Stirlingshire.

A mountain rescue team bizarrely ended up as a footnote on a daily newspaper piece about muffin tops after a mercy mission earlier in the week.

Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team was called out in torrential rain to help look for a missing 14-year-old dog near Low Row, downstream of Gunnerside.

The team revealed today that Hilda’s owner is Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones, who writes on fashion and body image on the world’s biggest news website.

Mountaineers welcomed a decision to reject an appeal against the refusal to allow a windfarm on the slopes of a prominent Highland mountain.

PI Renewables sought to overturn Highland Council’s refusal of its plans for 14 turbines about 400m to 450m on the south flank of Little Wyvis, which would have been just 5km from Ben Wyvis itself.

The Reporter at a public inquiry rejected the company’s appeal.

Police appealed for the public’s help following the mysterious disappearance of a man in the North Pennines.

Clothing belonging to German man Kilian Ruthlein was found next to Kielder reservoir in Northumberland.

Northumbria Police said a man matching his description was seen in a hotel five days later.

A Northumberland village supported its local mountain rescue team as it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

A floral display was created in Rothbury to mark the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team’s half century, and residents, groups and businesses are fundraising for the team.

Rothbury Parish Council created the Mountain Rescue England and Wales logo with plants in a prominent central location within the village and a plaque next to the flower bed installed by the Northumberland National Park Authority provides a history of the formation of the team following tragic events in 1965 where two shepherds perished in a blizzard.

Campaigners said a local authority’s move to cut its rights of way department was short-sighted and could lead to long delays in resolving footpath problems.

The Open Spaces Society expressed disappointment at Derbyshire County Council’s likely decision to go ahead with the planned reductions.

It said the cuts, following what the society called a controversial consultation in the summer, could result in three staff being axed and waits of up to six months to deal with problems.

A man was rescued from Britain’s highest mountain as Storm Abigail struck the country.

Rescuers said the walker, who suffered chest injuries, faced ‘certain death’ on Ben Nevis’s North Face.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was called out as atrocious weather hit the 1,344m (4,409ft) mountain.

Rescuers searching for a missing walker on the North York Moors found a body.

Stephen Gibson had not been seen since he became separated from a walking group in thick fog on Spaunton Moor.

North Yorkshire Police said the body was found near Cropton, east of Lastingham.

A man died after falling 100ft on a Snowdonia mountain.

Two climbers discovered the body of the walker, who it was believed may have lain on Tryfan for two days.

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation was contacted by North Wales Police after the pair made the discovery.

A rescue team had to use its skills to help stop a search and rescue helicopter and its crew rolling over after it developed a fault.

The Cave Rescue Organisation requested help from the Coastguard Sikorsky S-92 when its members were called out to a walker suffering chest pains on Ingleborough.

The crew subsequently radioed CRO for help and abandoned the aircraft which was in danger of rolling over.

Campaigners welcomed the Scottish Government’s refusal of plans for two more Highland windfarms.

The Glencassley and Sallachy developments in Sutherland would have been in wild land areas.

The John Muir Trust said the Holyrood administration had made the right decision.

Swiss speed climber Ueli Steck regained his record for the fastest climb of the Eiger’s North Face.

The climber soloed the classic Heckmair Route in a time of 2hrs 22mins in near-perfect conditions, beating Dani Arnold’s ascent record by five minutes.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met mountain rescuers during a visit to north Wales.

And the princess tackled a climbing wall while dressed in a mountain rescue jacket and wearing a helmet from one of the teams.

The Duke, who is patron of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, and his wife visited the Wolverhampton Council-owned Towers outdoor education centre in Capel Curig as part of a tour of projects linked to mental health.

A walker died after collapsing on a popular Lake District fell.

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team was alerted when the man lost consciousness south of the summit of Cat Bells.

As the team was gathering, it received reports that members of the public were attempting cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the walker but the man could not be revived.

The Conservative Government said funding for national parks in England would not be cut, despite departmental savings announced by Chancellor George Osborne.

There were fears England’s 10 national parks would face further grant restraints in Mr Osborne’s autumn statement, delivered to Parliament.

Authorities have already had to contend with funding cuts of up to 40 per cent during the previous coalition Government.

And a Westminster environment minister pledged that cash for the England Coast Path was safe.

Rory Stewart, parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told an MP funding for completing the 4,345km (2,700-mile) path would be protected.

He was responding to a written question by Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy.

The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation backed moves to restrict attempts on climbing the world’s highest mountain.

The Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme, the international governing body for mountaineering, said it supported the Nepal authorities’ plans to introduce more stringent qualifying criteria for anyone applying to climb Everest from the South.

These included the stipulation that mountaineers must already have scaled a peak of 6,500m or more before they tackle the 8,848m (29,029ft) Himalayan mountain.

December

A walker died after being found unconscious on a Lake District hillside.

Rescuers were unable to revive the elderly man, who was walking alone, near Low Sweden Bridge north of Ambleside.

More people than ever were heading for the great outdoors in England.

Figures revealed by the Government’s official advisers Natural England showed 3 billion visits were made to the English outdoors over a 12-month period.

Almost half of those surveyed claimed to have visited the natural environment the previous week when asked. The latest Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment results showed enthusiasm for spending time outside relaxing and unwinding, watching wildlife, enjoying the scenery, or keeping healthy is the highest it’s been since records began.

A leading conservation charity won a legal battle against Scottish Ministers’ approval of a controversial windfarm proposal.

The John Muir Trust said it was delighted that a judicial review of the decision to give the go-ahead for the Stronelairg development found in its favour.

Lord Jones delivered his decision at the Court of Session, ‘reducing’ ministers’ consent for the windfarm in the Monadhliath Mountains, effectively reversing their approval for the Scottish and Southern Energy plans.

Mountain rescue teams from across the North of England and beyond converged on Cumbria to help in the response to some of the worst flooding seen for a decade.

Cockermouth, Kendal, Keswick and Appleby were all flooded and a major incident was declared by police and emergency services.

Patterdale and Glenridding were also hit hard after torrential rain accompanied by storm force winds lashed the Lake District mountains. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team’s base was flooded.

Glenridding would be flooded three times in less than a month.

The Yorkshire Dales gained a new natural attraction, thanks to Storm Desmond.

Malham Cove was transformed into an 80m high waterfall as thousands of gallons of water poured over the lip of the limestone crag.

Hundreds of visitors gathered to view the phenomenon, which had not happened in living memory.

A climber who has posted several notable firsts and Base jumped from the top of a 2,000m peak revealed the closest he feels he came to death.

Leo Houlding told a gathering he had planned to take a flight on the ill fated MH17 which was shot down over eastern Ukraine last year.

The Berghaus-sponsored athlete told a group in Newcastle upon Tyne that he had a seat booked on the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russia separatists.

Rescuers said a fond farewell to a workhorse that had been involved in hundreds of operations helping outdoor enthusiasts in distress.

The Royal Navy’s Sea King helicopter 30 left its Ayrshire base for decommissioning as the search and rescue crews prepare to hand over to a civilian service in the New Year.

The Mk2 Sea King XZ578 was a familiar and welcome sight to walkers, climbers and other outdoor fans in western Scotland and northern England during numerous flights to aid mountain rescue teams and carry out other mercy missions.

Campaigners expressed their disappointment at MPs’ decision to allow fracking under national parks.

The House of Commons voted by 298 to 261 in favour of the move.

The vote meant companies would be able to drill and use the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique to extract shale gas from the ground beneath national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty as long as the works are 1,200m deep.

Charges at five car parks across the Lake District were waived until after the New Year, to help attract visitors back to the area.

The car parks were all owned by the Lake District National Park Authority, which said they will be free of charge until 3 January 2016.

The authority said the move was to support communities affected by recent floods caused by Storm Desmond, which resulted in record amounts of rain falling on the Lake District.

The authority also had to temporarily close some rights of way that are unsafe after the storm.

And a fund set up to help victims of the floods has raised more than £2m in just 12 days.

The Cumbria Flood Recovery Appeal was launched with the intention of attracting £1m to help alleviate the effects of Storm Desmond in the county. Organisers at Cumbria Community Foundation set a new £5m target for cash.

A rescue team launched a mission to return a Cumbrian visitor to his home after the devastating floods of Storm Desmond.

Calder Valley Search and Rescue Team in West Yorkshire appealed for help with Carl the Snail, a mascot the rescuers adopted after finding him in a flooded Carlisle street.

Britain’s official mapping agency bought a 25 per cent stake in a company that prints its paper maps.

Ordnance Survey put out printing from its own plant to Dennis Maps in 2010.

It announced it had taken a quarter holding in the Frome, Dorset-based company, which it described as one of the country’s most significant large-format litho printers.

A mountaineer missing in the Cairngorms was found safe and well.

Former RAF mountain rescue team member John Green was reported missing from the Ballater area.

Police said they were concerned for his welfare and that his failure to contact his family was out of character.

He was traced safe and well in the Aberdeen city centre area.

Volunteers from mountain rescue and search teams from across the country again responded as they took a crucial role during some of the worst floods in living memory in northern England.

Swathes of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester were hit by major inundations as rivers reached record levels following heavy rain on Boxing Day.

Parts of Salford, Leeds and York were under several feet of water and 24 severe flood warnings, meaning life in in danger, were issued for the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, Leeds and York, with a further 113 flood warnings and 98 flood alerts having been issued by the Environment Agency.