A cold Arctic blast descended on Britain in the first days of 2025, bringing freezing temperatures and transforming the hills and mountains into potentially dangerous environments. On Thursday, January 2, high pressure brought blue skies and clear air – the sort of conditions that are a siren song to avid hill goers. Many, myself included, headed for the fells of the Lake District on that day to blow away the winter cobwebs.
Around midday, , a narrow crest of rock on Blencathra, a mountain in the national park's Northern Fells. This arête is a popular grade one in summer and a serious objective when covered in snow. The rock is well polished from the passage of countless hiking boots and is renowned for being dangerously slippery when wet or iced up, particularly a sloping section known as ‘the Bad Step’.
The gully below this treacherous section is known to Mountain Rescue as ‘the Usual Gully’. That day, when the rescuers arrived at Sharp Edge, they discovered that the casualty had tragically died, having fallen 230ft / 70 meters from the ridge. His body was airlifted from the scene by a coastguard helicopter.
According to there have been 11 recorded deaths on Sharp Edge between 1949 and 2018, not to mention the many incidents that didn’t end in a fatality. The popular Striding Edge on nearby Helvellyn is another notorious ridge that has been the scene of several deaths over the years. So, it’s clear that there are serious risks involved when taking on narrow .
