THE widow of an experienced climber who died after falling from Helvellyn has praised the efforts of mountain rescue teams.

John Chadwick, 68, died on February 18 after falling around 100 feet from the head wall of the mountain.

He was described as an experienced mountaineer who, when he was aged 64, had completed the Bob Graham round in a time of 23 hours and 15 minutes as ‘a birthday present to himself’.

His wife Marjorie had reported him missing at 8pm and a massive search operation was launched involving mountain rescue teams from Patterdale, Keswick and Penrith.

Police Sergeant Alastair McCaig, who was involved in the search, was alerted to Mr Chadwick’s whereabouts when search dog Corrie began barking from a location near Greenside Mine at around 1am.

When Mr Chadwick, a former audit commissioner in Middlesbrough, was discovered he was hypothermic but alive.

Snowy conditions and thick cloud prevented a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from landing near the site so rescue teams carried Mr Chadwick down the mountain.

It took two hours for rescue teams to stretcher him to the helicopter, during which time he suffered a cardiac arrest and was revived by three doctors and a paramedic who were on hand.

He was airlifted to the major trauma centre at Newcastle Hospital where he died the following day.

Giving a statement at Kendal’s County Hall, Mrs Chadwick said: “The mountain rescue teams were absolutely fantastic. They kept me informed all the time and I can’t thank them enough.”

More than £2,000 was raised for the mountain rescue teams at Mr Chadwick’s funeral, which some rescuers attended.

Coroner Robert Chapman delivered a verdict of accidental death.

He told the inquest: “As far as I’m concerned we see a lot of people going out onto the mountains that don’t have the right gear but in this case he was fit and had a lot of experience but he just fell.

“Emergency services got to him as quickly as they could but he had been on the mountain for a long time and hypothermia had set in by the time they got there.

“The cause of death was multiple injuries compatible with a fall.”