Eight LDSAMRA-affiliated teams cover the Lake District, Eden Valley and west Cumbria. 100% volunteer · 100% donation-funded · 24/7, 365 days. Total 2025 callouts: ~600+.
✓ Verified active 2026-05-15✓ Triple-source coordinates (team site + OSM feature + Nominatim)
🚨 In an emergency right now
1
Dial 999
Ask for Police, then "Mountain Rescue". The 999 call is the only way to reach a team — calling a team's own phone number doesn't activate a callout.
2
Give your location
Use What3Words or OS Locate (free apps). Both work offline. If neither is on your phone, use a 6-figure or 10-figure OS grid reference if you can read one off a map.
3
Describe the casualty
Number of people, nature of injury, conscious / breathing, kit and shelter you have, time you've been there, weather conditions.
4
Stay put if possible
Don't move an injured casualty unless the location is dangerous. If one person stays, a second person CAN walk to the nearest MR base — but call 999 first; reaching a base on foot is slow.
If you've lost phone signal, get higher (signal is line-of-sight to a mast) or walk towards a road. Some Lakes valleys (Black Sail, Honister, upper Eskdale, upper Mosedale) have no signal.
🎒 Before you go: prepare
Always carry
Full waterproofs (jacket + overtrousers)
Spare insulating layer (fleece / down)
Map & compass — and the skill to use them
Head torch with spare batteries
Food + water for longer than you think
Phone with backup power bank · What3Words + OS Locate installed
Whistle (six blasts = international distress signal)
Small first-aid kit + emergency blanket / group shelter
Always tell someone
Where you're going (specific route, not just "the Lakes")
When you expect to return
What to do if you don't (typically: wait until 2-3 hours past expected return, then call 999)
The names of everyone in your party
Check before you set off
Met Office Mountain Forecast (mountain.metoffice.gov.uk)
Yr.no or Mountain-Forecast.com for second opinion
LDNPA weather + path warnings
8
Teams in this area
All LDSAMRA + MREW members
600+
Callouts in 2025
Rising year-on-year
100%
Volunteer
No public funding for response
24/7
365 days/year
Pager callout from home/work
Keswick Mountain Rescue Team Active 2026 ✓
Northern Lakes · Skiddaw · Helvellyn west · Borrowdale
Founded
1947 — 2nd-oldest civilian MRT in UK (after Coniston, same year)
Founded by Col. Rusty Westmorland — "the father of mountain rescue in the Lake District". Members include GPs, paramedics, fire-service personnel, mountain leaders, rope-access specialists. England's three highest mountains are within or adjacent to Keswick's primary patch.
Coniston Mountain Rescue Team FIRST UK CIVILIAN MRT
Coniston Fells · Old Man · Dow Crag · Wetherlam
Founded
31 January 1947 — the first civilian mountain rescue team in the UK
Founders
Jim Cameron + the Appleyard brothers · meeting at The Sun pub, Coniston
Trigger
December 1946 death of Ernest Sivyer — three days of disorganised search failed to find him alive
2025 callouts
70 — record year (up from 69 in 2024)
Team size
30+ active volunteers
Base
Old Furness Road, Coniston, LA21 8HU
Coverage
Old Man of Coniston · Dow Crag · Swirl How · Wetherlam · Great Carrs · Grey Friar · Furness Fells
Charity
1192607 (England & Wales)
First training session: 22–23 February 1947. The team's first operational deployment on 13 April 1947 was to rescue their own leader Jim Cameron — he'd fallen 90 feet from Dow Crag. He survived. Halifax bomber LL505 (RCAF) crashed on Great Carrs 22 October 1944, killing all 8 Canadian crew; wreckage remains, team holds Remembrance services there.
Eastern Lakes · Helvellyn east · Ullswater · High Street
Founded
1964 — by Dr James Ogilvie, Patterdale's local GP
2025 callouts
101 — 2nd consecutive 100+ year
Lifetime rescues
Over 2,700 since 1964
Team size
≈ 30 active volunteers + probationers
Base
Ogilvie House, Patterdale, CA11 0PJ (opened 1999)
Original base
"Deer Howe" barn at Patterdale Hotel, 1964–1999
Coverage
Helvellyn east · High Street · Fairfield · St Sunday Crag · Place Fell · Hartsop · Boredale · Martindale · Ullswater east shore
Charity
1063329 (England & Wales)
Phone (admin)
01768 483145 — NOT for emergencies, dial 999
Equipment
4 Land Rovers · RIB for Ullswater rescues + far-shore deployment
Storm Desmond (5–6 December 2015) flooded the ground floor of Ogilvie House while the team handled 50+ incidents in 100 hours. RIB replaced 2024 after a £25k appeal.
⚠ Planning application for a new base on Cowper Road, Eden Business Park
Coverage
Scottish border in the north · Northumberland border in the east · down the North Pennines to High Cup Nick · Haweswater area (Lake District NE)
Charity
1003192 (England & Wales)
Covers the largest geographic area of any LDSAMRA team. Eastern extension of the Lakes mutual-aid family — shared boundary with Patterdale around High Street & Haweswater.
Primary responder for Scafell Pike — by far the busiest peak in the Lakes for callouts. Major incidents typically draw 3–4 teams simultaneously through LDSAMRA mutual aid: Wasdale primary, plus Langdale/Ambleside (Esk Hause approach), Cockermouth (Sty Head), and Keswick.
Langdale & Ambleside Mountain Rescue BRITAIN'S BUSIEST MOUNTAIN AREA
Central Lakes · Langdale Pikes · Bowfell · Crinkle Crags
Founded
1970 — merger of Langdale MRT + Ambleside Fell Rescue
2025 callouts
100+ — "Britain's busiest mountain area"
Team size
45 active volunteers
Base
Low Fold, 1 Old Lake Road, Ambleside, LA22 0DN
Coverage
Great + Little Langdale · Langdale Pikes (Pavey Ark, Gimmer, Pike of Stickle) · Bowfell · Crinkle Crags · Esk Hause · Wetherlam · Lingmoor · Loughrigg · Fairfield south · Rydal · north Windermere
Charity
1080132 (England & Wales)
Phone (admin)
01539 432580 — NOT for emergencies
Pre-1970, Langdale rescue was unofficial at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel under landlord Sid Cross and his climbing family. Members are "professional volunteers" — unpaid but held to professional standards. Mass-participation events (Lakeland 100 ultra) regularly add load.
100% donations and legacies. No public funding pays for callout response. Each team's annual operating cost ranges from ~£20k (Coniston) to over £100k (the busiest teams). Bases, vehicles, kit, training and medical supplies are all donor-funded.
How they're coordinated
All 8 teams belong to LDSAMRA (charity 1191015) — coordinates radio comms, insurance, medical training and major-incident response. They are also members of Mountain Rescue England and Wales (charity 1178090), the national body.
Mutual aid
The 8-team layer on the LTV map shows the resident teams. The LDSAMRA arrangement means no part of the Lake District is uncovered; major incidents draw 3–4 teams simultaneously. Three boundary zones (Helvellyn ridge, Scafell massif, Coniston/Langdale) routinely see multi-team responses.
💰 Support Mountain Rescue
Every Land Rover, stretcher, first-aid kit, training session and base building is funded by public donations. Even small recurring donations make a real difference. If this map has helped you plan a Lakes day, please consider supporting the team whose patch you're walking in.