VSCG Case Study – Lord`s Rake, Scafell

VSCG Case Study – Lord`s Rake, Scafell

Case Study – Lord’s Rake, Scafell
Lord’s Rake is a long, steep,
narrow gully with high rock
sides. It is located close to the
summit of Scafell Pike and is
commonly used as one of the
routes of ascent up Scafell.
This is a popular route for
climbers and walkers, and is
described in detail in Alfred
Wainwright’s guide to the
Central Fells and other guide
books.
In early 2002, a large slab of rock detached from
the western side wall and became wedged across
the top of the Rake. This rock had large cracks
and was clearly unstable. There was a risk that
this rock might fall down the Rake. If this
occurred whilst people were in the Rake, they
would almost certainly be killed.
Over time there have been further rock falls. In
March 2003, the wall on which the slab was
resting itself collapsed, causing secondary falls
of rock and generating very unstable material.
Further reconnaissance by independent writers
indicates that the whole rock wall above the
Rake is slowly becoming detached from the
surrounding rock, and will in time collapse into
the Rake, as indicated below.
The National Trust is the
owner of the land. Trust
staff have been monitoring
the situation for some while,
together with members of
the Wasdale Mountain
Rescue team.
The following precautions
have been implemented:
 advice has been sought from a geo-technical expert
 signs have been placed at both approaches to Lord’s Rake warning of the danger
 notices and information have been placed in various car parks and at Wasdale
campsite to encourage people to plan an alternative route avoiding Lord’s Rake
 a system has been introduced for regular checking of all signage and information
 the hazard has been communicated to relevant magazines and groups
In addition, regular information updates have been placed on the Wasdale Mountain
Rescue web site www.wasdale-mountain-rescue.org.uk and on www.felltreks.co.uk
It is probably the issue of signage in relatively remote mountain areas that has
generated most concern, in particular from the British Mountaineering Council’s local
Mountain Liaison Group, and the Lake District National Park. There are fears that
increased signage in open country damages the beauty of remote natural landscape,
and may set precedents for other locations.
A risk assessment has been carried out and reviewed regularly, taking into account the
VSCG Guiding Principles. There has been much discussion on whether the feature
should be categorised as rugged or wild terrain. Normally, there would be a
presumption that terrain of this type, at a height of over 2000’, and at least one and a
half hour’s strenuous walk from the nearest car park would be categorised as wild
terrain. In such wild mountain areas, one would expect no or minimal management
intervention, and an advanced level of user skills, knowledge and self-reliance.
However, in reality, many people who attempt this route to ascend one of England’s
highest mountains, particularly in summer, are ill-equipped and under-prepared. The
location has therefore been categorised as rugged terrain for the period from Easter to
October, and wild mountain terrain for the winter months.
At first sight, the actions taken appear to be
contrary to one of the fundamental guiding
principles, i.e. that we should not take away
people’s sense of freedom and adventure. We
recognise that people should be free to
participate in high-risk activities such as fell
walking, but so long as they are aware of the
risks. In the Lord’s Rake situation, the
problem is that even experienced and able fell
walkers would not be aware of the specific
high risk from falling and unstable rock until
they were half way up the Rake in an exposed
and vulnerable position. The National Trust
has placed greater emphasis on some of the
other guiding principles - the need to ensure
that visitors are aware of the risks they face,
the need to inform and educate visitors about
the nature of any hazards, and the importance
of finding the right balance between user self-reliance and management intervention.
At the same time, the Trust must take account of both its moral duty to all visitors,
and its legal duties under health and safety and occupier’s liability legislation. The
precautions adopted for Lord’s Rake are site- and time-specific, are based on a local
risk assessment, and will be reviewed and adapted as natural erosion processes
continue.
MD 26.08.03
Extract from Visitor Safety in the Countryside Group's website (VSCG.co.uk)