Hikers stiff hotel on unpaid bill after treacherous 7-hour mountain rescue operation, nonprofit says

Two hikers rescued after becoming lost while attempting to climb England’s highest mountain during "treacherous winter conditions" allegedly stiffed a hotel they were put up in for the night after the seven-hour operation, according to the nonprofit responsible for saving them.

"We avoid judging those we rescue but struggle to understand when the rescued take advantage of hospitality provided by our supporters in the valley," the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team wrote in a Facebook post last week.

It explained that after the two men were safely rescued from Scafell Pike in an "avoidable" situation Dec. 29, the manager of the Wasdale Head Inn "kindly agreed to stay up, give them snacks and a room."

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Scafell Pike has an elevation of 3,200 feet.

Although the men were given a discounted room rate of 35%, which they agreed to pay at the time but said their money wasn't on them, they left without settling their bill, the rescue nonprofit claimed, adding that the organization felt compelled to pay it for them.

"Disappointingly, in the morning, they offered no thanks for the efforts of the hotel, asked for further reductions to the cost, pushed hard for a breakfast and asked if they could arrange transport to get them out of the valley," the nonprofit alleged. "The answer was, sorry no extras and please transfer money when you can."

The nonprofit also said the men haven’t returned two flashlights missing from the team after the rescue.

In addition, they said the phone number given to the hotel manager to contact the men didn’t work.

The nonprofit said the men still haven’t paid back the $178 bill, although the post generated so much goodwill that good Samaritans have given more money than owed to the inn, which the group said, "will go directly towards the team’s operational costs which are in excess of £100,000 annually."

The team said they tried contacting the men about the money and the flashlights and to return a crutch that one of the men left in one of the team’s vehicles but hadn’t heard back.

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"This post will hopefully prompt the two young males to settle their debt," the team wrote, adding that they left a QR on the post for ease of payment. "They might also reflect on the kindness they were offered that night by the staff at the Wasdale Head Inn and our own volunteer team following their eventful visit to Cumbria."

The team concluded the post by explaining that their volunteers are unpaid, and "we never charge but equally donations are always appreciated. Especially to help contribute to our significant capital and operational costs, and even some of our more unusual but rare £130 losses."

In a comment below the post, the hotel thanked the team for "dealing with this incident in their usual professional manner, and to our staff who stayed up to look after the starving and frozen walkers when they were brought in around 2am.

"Luckily this is the first time in living memory (45 years or more) that those rescued have behaved like this, however the messages of support and donations for the team from so many people more than make up for this one selfish episode."