I had the most fantastic ride today with a group of mates. We arrived at Fairholmes early and headed out to do the Cut Gate and Langsett routes from the V graphics Dark Peak book.

The sun was shining, the trails dry and dusty, awesome riding with tough technical climbing and fast descents.

On the way back I pulled ahead of my mates and eventually ended up waiting at the stream crossing at Cranberry Clough just before the steep switchback ascent (if you are heading out towards Langsett).

Two riders that I'd passed early were approaching the stream with my mate closely behind. All of a sudden one of these lads just went straight over the handlebars and slammed really hard chest/face down.

Of course you give the obligatory 'are you ok', to which he replied 'yes', but when he tried to get up he realised that he'd broken his collarbone.

As there is no mobile signal there (or at Fairholmes) we legged it back to use the public phone and called it in.

I left the rider and his mate at 1220, I must have called it in no later than 1240. Giving the Police/M'tain Rescue location details. Slippery Stones, Cranberry Clough, start of Cut Gate.

I then hung around for my other mates who arrived 20 mins later. Luckily I did. While I'm having a cake and cup of tea the air ambulance is circling over head.

It was at this point I realised they must be looking for the cyclist. So I went to the rangers office and called the police/MR again. They thought it had happened at Fairholmes even though I'd provided location details twice in the original call.

Eventually an ambulance arrived, picked up a ranger in order for him to direct them to injured rider. This was at 1340 with possible 15-20 mins away from casuality.

I hope said rider, if he reads this, is OK.

Great day of riding and a sense of drama. What more could you want from a day in the Peaks.

Hope its not one of my mates, they were riding there today!

What bike was he(not)on & how many of his mates were there?

Probably not them as that would have been a bit early for their return leg

I saw the guy too, passed at about 1pm and he was in good spirits all things considered and was actually starting to walk towards fairholmes to meet the rangers coming up.

Not sure what his bike was, him and his mate were on HT's one white and one red, possibly commencal's?

sure i'll get shot down but wasnt some MTFU required.

a busted collarbone might be painful but is surely not air ambulance material?

I saw a guy ride half of the Wayfarer with a broken collar bone. Stopped at a phone box to phone his missus to pick him up. Heard later she got lost and he rode the rest of the way home.

MrOvershoot said …. Hope its not one of my mates, they were riding there today

No, not one of us but we heard the chopper.

Hope the fella's OK. Chances are we met him today, not that that makes a difference – I'd hope he's OK anyway.

Jambo – IMO you've kind of got a point but then I've got a first aid kit on me and know how to support a collar-bone. Also, if the guy's at Cranberry Clough, it's not difficult to get to the road on the other side (even though it's technically closed). We've evacuated an uninjured mate with a FUBAR bike that way – I just steamed back to Fairholmes and drove up the closed road.

Having said that, the decision to send the chopper is made by the emergency services. If they decide to send the chopper or drop the SBS (boats'n'all) into Howden reser to fetch the guy, so be it.

a busted collarbone might be painful but is surely not air ambulance material

Not really a regular ambulance job either, but he might have hit his head as well, I guess ?

I think both riders were relatively new to the game. He was riding a rockhopper and his mate was on a commencal HT.

Having watched the fall he did slam hard. TBH, I expected him to have smashed his face in because he didn't use his arms to break the fall. Just a big body slam face down.

Tough job for the emergency services as I suppose they dont know what to expect and what the surroundings/environment is like. In the end I'm sure they just used the ambulance and drove up to the slippery stones and walked from there.

Glad to hear he was in good spirits though.

Yesterday made me realise that The Peaks can be an unforgiving place and I'm sure he's thankful that it wasn't miserable weather.

jam bo – Member
sure i'll get shot down but wasnt some MTFU required.

a busted collarbone might be painful but is surely not air ambulance material?

Well, not if it was JUST a collarbone, but you rarely just break that without other injuries as its generally a big impact that breaks it.

When I did mine I hit my head hard – have no recollection of most of the rest of the day, couldn't really walk properly and ended up getting ambulanced out

It's hardly as if it's his decision to get an air ambulance either, is it?

jam bo – Member

sure i'll get shot down but wasnt some MTFU required.

a busted collarbone might be painful but is surely not air ambulance material?

With you 100% on that. MTFU FFS. walking wounded self evacuate – its often quicker apart from anything else

Tim – Member
Well, not if it was JUST a collarbone, but you rarely just break that without other injuries as its generally a big impact that breaks it.

Piffle. If other serious injuries than perhaps call 999. Simple collar bone breaks are common and easy to do

Tim – Member
Well, not if it was JUST a collarbone, but you rarely just break that without other injuries as its generally a big impact that breaks it.

Piffle. If other serious injuries than perhaps call 999. Simple collar bone breaks are common and easy to do

Its not piffle, its my input to this thread. I'm not lying you know…

May have not needed an air ambulance, but were you on-site diagnosing?

I think often collarbone breaks are accompanied with some serious pain and shock. Shock in an exposed area isn't great. While I too would have walked down if physically possible, I know for a fact that if my missus had broken her collarbone and was in agony Id not expect her to walk further than necessary. That said, I'm trained in "expedition first aid" so I'd like to think I'd know where to draw the line and what to look for, I suspect the emergency services took the decision that it was difficult enough to get down from and that they did not havea busy copter at the time (or maybe it was nearby) so out it went.

It may not have needed an air ambulance, but have you considdered how far cut gate is from the nearest A&E? I'm guessing its the Northern General in Sheffield? Thats a good 20-30min dive, plus trafic jams and Sheffield city center to negotiate.

To the OP……..
Were you not carrying a map to give a grid ref. ?

not the injured parties decision,

someone with some first aid experience should make the call.

Especially as he eventually started walking out, that would have been the best decision. If an ambulance is needed when you get to a road then fair enough, but people need to really think about what they are starting when they dial 999.

Or perhaps the 999 operators need a bit more education in whats required, not just send in the special forces at the drop of a hat.

Untill the somerset Ambulance people employ more attractive female paramedics i'll be walking off the hill when injured as i have done on many occasions.

Tis a mear flesh wound, ok the collapsed lung could been alot worse…lol.

We were out on Cut Gate yesterday – saw the air ambulance head off in a totally different direction!

TJ – I've had friends "only" break bones in the past. One guy "only" broke his arm. By the time the ambulance came he was white as a sheet and feeling faint due to blood loss from a ruptured kidney (un-noticed bar to the abdomen blunt trauma masked by the pain of his arm). Extreme example I know but any major fall in an exposed place can have serious repercussions. And as for MTFU – surely that's the emergency services call not yours? I'm sure we'd all be complaining if the ambulance service said that over the phone then someone got into difficulties.

I imagine to some extent an Air Ambulance is a use it or loose it asset.
If you only use it for them utterly essential cases then at the end of the year someone is going to look at the number of call-outs vs. operating costs and decide it's not worth having.

I've heard from paramedics and Mtn Rescue guys who have all said "We'd rather be called out and it be not serious than not called out and needed"

It's the responsibility of the emergency services to decide on appropriate response. An air ambulance was sent to a "simple" broken ankle at a CX race last year – there was no real danger to the casualty, plenty of people around but the location of the event meant it was simpler and quicker to just get him out of there via helicopter.

In the early 90's my wife and I had driven up to Aberfoyle for an mtb ride in the forest, wife came off over some rocks and broke her collarbone. I hadn't passed my driving test at this point so she rode back to the car and drove back to Glasgow. Major respect for that one.

Anyway it wasn't the injured guys decision regarding the air ambulance so you can't blame him. He might have been quite happy to walk out had the op not called it in.

ive rescued the odd noob on cut gate, it lulls people in to going real quick then throws some hefty rocks at them. it probably doesnt help with the likes of MBR saying what great singletrack it is whilst failing to mention the remote and rocky aspect.

hope he is ok, though its damn selfish of him to crash when bikers are passing, makes them feel obliged and responsible to help!

thisisnotaspoon – no I did not have a grid reference as I know the area and route and did not feel it was necessary to carry a map.

As stated I informed the operator the location twice on the original call and then provided the grid reference when using the map in the information centre at Fairholmes (although this is when I rang the emergency services back up after seeing the chopper circling the car park).

slowrider – Luckily for me I'd completed the Cut Gate and Langsett loop and was waiting for a couple of mates before heading back to Fairholmes for a cup ' tea and cake. The only inconvenience was to ride that distance at break neck speed with tired legs.

I do agree though, it is a fantastic ride, but very remote and challenging. It is also very fast in places with large rocks and drops. Not something I'd honestly recommend for two novice riders.

I presume they sent the chopper in case the ambulance was not able to access the injured rider.

Well, not if it was JUST a collarbone, but you rarely just break that without other injuries as its generally a big impact that breaks it.

Sorry Tim but your wrong collar bones break with ease why do you think there is so many.

As for using the Air Ambulance well maybe he could have been worse but doesn't sound like it and for a road ambulance. If it been me who attended chances are I'd find out where how close he was to his own transport and decide from there.

perhaps the 999 operators need a bit more education in whats required, not just send in the special forces at the drop of a hat.

They do have plenty already to the point you may not get an ambulance at all, I should add in many services.

I think often collarbone breaks are accompanied with some serious pain and shock. Shock in an exposed area isn't great.

Shock in the medical sense yes that is dangerous, shock in the "Ooh I feel a bit wooozy" sense no. Shock with collar bones is not common well not the bad kind of shock.

I think both riders were relatively new to the game. He was riding a rockhopper and his mate was on a commencal HT.[/quote]

kingofbiscuits,so because they were on hardtails they were newbies then?? ;0)

Yes, obviously 😀

If you ride a HT than you're either new to the game or can't afford a proper bike or have switched back from a proper bike because you think its cool or switched back because you dare not reach speeds proper bikes can reach or its winter.

IIRC one of the riders did not have cycle specific clothing on and was wearing trainers. Having passed them on the way up Mickeldon Edge and watched them come down the switchback section in Cranberry Clough they lacked confidence and conviction and were relatively sketchy.

Therefore I made the assumption 'newbies'. Put it this way they would have not looked out of place just pootling around the reservoirs.

a proper bike hmmm now what is one of them then??? hardtails can reach the speeds of "ahem cough" proper bikes, 😕

Oh no, I ride a knackered hardtail wearing even more knackered trainers, I must be a newbie. That said, can't think of anything on Cut Gate that would need either full sus or clips…

in the right hands….sure….but more often than not, in my experience of riding both HT and FS and riding with mates who have both…..No.

BTW Blower I was joking, I should hae included HTs are only ridden by homos, dwarves, ethnic minorities or porterclough.

KoB – that's better 😉

thisisnotaspoon – no I did not have a grid reference as I know the area and route and did not feel it was necessary to carry a map.

Just my 2p worth – not criticising. Obviously I know the trails I ride/guide very well and haven't had to refer to a map more than a handful of times all summer (usually when trying a new trail or looking for an alternative in bad weather). All the same, I always carry a map purely so that I'm able to give a grid reference and/or guide in the emergency services if needed (carry a GPS as well, for the same reason).

Clearly, professional guiding is different from riding with mates (my level of responsibility is a lot higher!) but it's worth thinking about.

it said in mbuk,full suss and full armour would'nt be outa place on Cut Gate,so im gonna do it on a proper bike next,i might just be a real biker then 😉

KoB get yer handbag out… 🙂

Every man we passed yesterday on 'cut gate' was wearing body armour. Every woman we passed (and there were lots) was not. Equal amount of HTs and Fs's.

I did see 2 tumbles, right in the centre where it's flat and rocky, both in exactly the same spot.

Blower is neither a Homo, Dwarf, Ehtnic Minority or Porterclough.

Therefore he is a Newbie FACT

[swinging handbag indiscriminately] Don't get me started on riders wearing armour. Are they newbies progressing to proper bikes but a little scared of grazing their knees? 😀

Good point stevomcd and one I've considered in retrospect. I do think that being able to provide a grid reference would have sped up the process and avoided confusion.

I was thinking about this thread while I read the local paper last night.

There was a report about the air-ambulance picking up a young boy who'd had a fairly minor injury during a football match and carrying him to the local hospital which is less than 4 miles by main roads.

Also recently the air-sea resue helicopter was called out because someone thought they saw a body in the surf on Swansea beach. A full scale search involving helicopter, police on the beach etc and nothing was found. Probably driftwood.

It strikes me that there is a lot of money being wasted on helicopter call outs. Somebody above said maybe it's use it or lose it, so maybe it is case of needing to justify the budget.

However, I would have been massively embarassed to have a helicopter call out if I'd only broken a collarbone. Perhaps the OP should have just assessed the situation a little better before calling the emergency services?

I hope the guy with the broken collar bone makes a hefty donation to an air-ambulance charity.

Every man we passed yesterday on 'cut gate' was wearing body armour.

I wasn;t wearing body armour when I did it last weekend on my bouncy bike, nor on Bank holiday weekend when I did it on my hardtail. Now which of those was a proper bike again? 🙄

On a similar theme to the post above my brother go rushed to hospital (3 miles away) by ambulance with a broken leg on Sunday that he managed to receive while playing rugby I could understand if his bone as sticking out but it wasn't.

Another lad got air lifted from the same club to the same hospital for a broken leg.

It would have been faster for my mother to drive my brother to hospital than it was for the ambulance to arrive.

when I broke both me legs, I drove me self upto the hozzy, but then couldnt get out and walk into A/E….

As it happens I was wearing 'armour' (by which I mean arm and leg pads, not pressure suit, spine board etc) on Cut Gate on Saturday. And I didn't need it.

I decided not to wear it last night (Roaches) and wish I had. Sat here now with my trousers stuck to my right knee. 😳