Woman saved from Three Peaks 'owes life' to rescuers

Natalie Hampson urged other walkers to prepare properly for the Three Peaks

A woman who had to be saved by a mountain rescue team while taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge said she "owes her life" to the volunteers.

Natalie Hampson, 36, was taking part in the charity walk with several members of her burlesque group when dangerous weather conditions hit on Saturday.

With midnight approaching, she said the group, from Lancashire, had been walking for 15 hours when they were forced to take shelter on Whernside and call for help from the Cave Rescue Organisation.

After being guided to safety, Ms Hampson praised her rescuers saying: "I owe them my life because I wouldn't have been able to get down without their help."

Volunteers from the Cave Rescue Organisation scaled Whernside to locate the missing walkers

The Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge is a 24-mile route, taking in Ingleborough (2,372ft/723m), Pen-y-ghent is (2,277ft/694m) and Whernside (2,415ft/736m), with participants aiming to complete the walk in under 12 hours.

Describing the conditions on Saturday, Ms Hampson said: "The rocks were slippery, the winds were totally blowing our footing, so it became very dangerous, very quickly.

"The only thing we could think about doing at that point was hiding behind a wall."

She said a member of the group, who had already returned home, had called the Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) for assistance.

"We were very grateful for that because we were that exhausted," Ms Hampson, from Buckshaw Village, near Chorley, said.

"We couldn't even think about how to make our next move."

A tent was put over the stranded walkers to warm them up

With only one phone between the group, Mrs Hampson was able to provide the rescue team with her GPS location.

While they waited she said the group had to cuddle to conserve body heat before the CRO volunteers arrived and "put a tent over us to try to bring our body temperature up as quickly as possible".

The group was then guided back down Whernside and reunited with other members of the walking team, who had been found near Yordas Cave, in Kingsdale.

Praising the CRO she said: "To do that for people is one of the most selfless things that I've ever come across.

"I dread to think about the kind of injuries we might have got if we'd tried to get any further."

Admitting she had not done any training for the challenge she urged others not to "go in blind".

"You have to realise that nature is a force to be reckoned with and respect that because otherwise you put your safety and other people's safety at risk," she said.

The Cave Rescue Organisation confirmed their attendance at the incident on social media.

Responding to the grateful walkers, they said: "We are there for anyone who gets into difficulties, either above or below ground, and are pleased to have been able to help you safely make your way off the hill."

The rescue comes three months after the deaths of two walkers in separate incidents on the route of the Three Peaks.

Speaking in June, Mick Ellerton, from Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association, said while he did not want people to be "scared off", walking the Three Peaks "really is a challenge".

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