Climber dies in 1,500ft fall on Scots peak

A CLIMBER tumbled 1,500ft to his death in the Highlands only a few miles from the place where four people perished in an avalanche this week.

Paul Fooks, 38, from Nottingham, was with friends on Sgurr a' Mhaim, opposite Ben Nevis, when he apparently slipped on steep ground. He was not wearing crampons.

The accident happened at about 5pm on Thursday as the weather was deteriorating in the western Highlands after a bright day. The alarm was raised by two other climbers in the party and rescuers, aided by a helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth, found Mr Fooks's body after a four-hour search.

A police spokesman said: "It seems as if Mr Fooks lost his grip and slid down the hill."

Sgurr a' Mhaim is a popular winter excursion. There are tricky sections along its summit ridge where the Scottish Mountaineering Club guide for the area suggests "inexperienced climbers might welcome a rope". However, Mr Fooks fell lower down the mountain in an area where a rope would not normally be used.

Terry Confield, leader of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, said Mr Fooks was descending a 45 degree slope of snow patches, frozen turf and rocks in Glen Nevis when he slipped. "This guy was not wearing his crampons. They were in his sack," he said.

Climbers often take off their crampons on mixed terrain where the spikes scrape on rocks and slow progress. But they make crossing icy ground much safer. "The message is that where there's any patches of hard snow or frozen ground, keep your crampons on," Mr Confield said. "They may wear out a bit faster but at least they keep you alive."

Mr Fooks, who lived alone, seems to have had plenty of experience in the hills. Margaret Fountain, a neighbour, said: "We knew he used to go climbing because you would see him going off at the weekends with a rucksack on his back. This is a real shock."

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, the same group of volunteers that rushed to the aid of the avalanche victims, has now had to bring down five bodies in three days. In an "average" winter it deals with about eight deaths.

As climbing and hillwalking become more popular, the call-outs of one of Scotland's busiest teams increase accordingly. Mr Confield said that 30 years ago the team got about half a dozen call-outs a year, now it gets as many as 80.

Two of the survivors of the avalanche on Aonach Mor, Sarah Finch, 25, and her boyfriend Steven Newton, left hospital in Fort William yesterday after treatment for sprains and mild hypothermia. The third survivor, the party's guide, Roger Wild, left hospital on Thursday.

Friends who were on holiday with the avalanche victims, all Venture Scout leaders from Kent, said yesterday they were still in "a state of shock and disbelief" after the tragedy. The dead climbers were among a group of 15 on a New Year activity holiday. In a statement, the non-climbers said their friends simply "ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time".