‘I feel so lucky every day’ says climber who didn’t break a bone in 650ft fall

An Arbroath man who survived a 650ft fall from a mountain with only cuts and bruises was told rescuers arrived expecting to recover a dead body.

Munro-bagger Chris Elliot was scaling A’ Chràlaig in the Western Highlands with his partner, Jagoda Penkala, when he fell.

The pair took up their new hobby of exploring Scotland’s mountains during lockdown and were trying to complete the seven Munros at Glen Shiel.

After completing five on previous trips, the couple had just completed the sixth and were resting before taking on their second of the day.

Chris, 52, said: “It had started out cold that day and then the sun came out.

“We had crampons on, but because the sun had come out I think it slightly melted the snow and I just slipped.”

Rather than a sheer fall, Chris had the “slide of his life” down the side of the mountain before coming to a stop.

He has little memory of the accident on April 2, except for the moments immediately before he fell and after rescuers reached him.

But Jagoda, who witnessed everything, can remember every detail and says she thought Chris was dead.

She said: “For the first week after, when I closed my eyes all I could see was his face.

“I was just watching him going down and shouting and there was just no response.

“At that moment I thought he would never come back to me.”

Jagoda called emergency services and a rescue crew arrived on a Coastguard helicopter soon after.

Chris was winched into the helicopter just an hour after he fell.

Jagoda is full of gratitude for the emergency crews who responded to her call for help, saying they went above and beyond for the couple.

As Chris was flown to Raigmore Hospital, his partner thought she was facing a long walk off the mountain not knowing whether he was dead or alive.

“The helicopter took him to hospital and because I was OK the local police said I would have to go down myself,” Jagoda said.

“I really didn’t want to leave the hill, I thought it was where I was going to have last seen Chris.”

Two other climbers encouraged her slowly down the hill, but the helicopter returned for Jagoda a short time later. She said: “It was so nice of them.

“Between that moment of Chris falling and the helicopter coming back to me I didn’t know if he was alive.”

Chris said: “The first rescuers told me they had expected to find a corpse.”

Medics treated the stricken climber for a large cut on his ribs and monitored him for six days before he was discharged home to recover from his relatively minor injuries.

Chris suffered no broken bones and is now at home recovering.

He said: “The only thing I had was a depressed spine, a cut on my side and bruising from my stomach to my knees.

“There is no permanent damage, though. I could have had brain damage or broken my spine.

“I feel so lucky every single day.

“I couldn’t believe I didn’t have a single broken bone.”

Chris has since returned to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee after developing an infection as a result of a kidney stone which was dislodged during the trauma of his fall.

He is currently awaiting a removal operation but expects to return to work within weeks.

The experience hasn’t put Chris or Jagoda off returning to the mountains, Chris said.

“My only regret is I didn’t start climbing sooner.”

NARROW ESCAPE: Chris recovering at home and, inset, showing some of his minor injuries. Picture by Kim Cessford.