UKC

It may have been a lockdown-friendly local route he knew well, but a surprise slip on icy ground put fell runner Nick Small in a serious predicament, a situation he hadn't gone well equipped to deal with. Do you carry enough just-in-case gear on your cold weather runs? Here's why you should...

Plus ça change . . . Plus c’est la même chose . . (Try a different language)

Good points. Fell into stream through snow on a very lonely local day out walking near back tor a few weeks ago. Luckily escaped with slight recurrence of a old knee injury. If it had fully gone I'd not have been walking off at all/in a hurry   No phone signal and probably not enough clothes. Yesterday evening around dusk, at least put spikes on for second half of run (not sure why not for first half too really!), But didn't have a really warm layer to hole up in if needed. That might change next time out...cheers and heal well.

Great article, thanks for that. 
 

I see W3W recommended by the authors rescue expert friend. Is that now accepted as equivalent to traditional GR then? I recall previous threads on W3W seemingly conclude (with inputs from MRTs) that it often wasn’t helpful and overall not a patch on GRs. 

Was that article a thread a while ago?

Anyhow, took a bit of a tumble on ice yesterday, was concentrating on what the dog was up to rather than underfoot.

No real damage other than a sprained wrist so carried on. I always run carrying a blizzard bag and insulated and waterproof tops in this weather,  and keep to areas where I have a phone signal and are easily accessible from the road so Mrs Ridge (who has route details) can pick me up if needed.

If you're out on your own in a mountain environment in winter - get yourself a Garmin inReach Mini (only weighs 100g)...

Same with hillwalking - I always carry the blizzard bag and more clothes than I'd ever need if nothing were to go wrong. A night out still wouldn't be much fun but with/without the extras could easily be the difference between life and death. 

and costs nearly £300, (plus monthly satellite calling subscription)...

Lone winter runs can be the very finest of things, but can go wrong quicker than others. I well remember a few years ago wading through drifted snow and dropping through a hole, struggling to get out. It would have only taken a bad sprain for it to go very differently. Took me a while to get back and my temp had dropped right off ...I was about a mile and a bit from home

Good article, thank you for posting it, I'd seen it on the fell running Facebook page a few weeks back.
I'd normally carry a bum bag even in good summer conditions on my local hill (Pendle) with a jacket, map, phone & survival blanket. In winter I'd add to this with full waterproofs, hat, gloves, extra layer etc.  But your article has made me stop and think that if something really did go wrong (I'm often out on my own) I need to be carrying a bit more stuff.  And be better at letting those at home know where I've gone too even though this goes against my "run free" philosophy.
The idea of calling mountain rescue even if you're trying to self extract makes good sense too, hadn't really considered that.   

I would add - dry socks. Getting your feet wet is standard in fell running shoes and I think a dry pair of socks would make a long wait a lot more pleasant.

I've been critical of myself a couple of times recently for going out with the smaller bag (which will take full waterproofs and some other extras) rather than the bigger bag (which has room for the artificial down jacket). 

Well personally, I value my life enough to think that's a good investment.