Climbers lucky to survive Ben Nevis avalanche
RESCUE teams were scrambled in Lochaber last Saturday following an avalanche on Ben Nevis.
Police received a call about an incident around midday on February 4 which was answered by rescue helicopters from HM Coastguard and Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team (LMRT).
Together, the teams rescued three injured climbers who were then taken to the Belford Hospital in Fort William.
Lochaber Police confirmed the climbers, who are not local, sustained cuts, bruises and injured ribs, but John Stevenson, from LMRT said they were unbelievably lucky.
He told The Oban Times: ‘Anyone who walks away from this kind of incident is beyond lucky. It’s the rocks which do the damage, the ones which are uncovered. I think they bounced down the hill quite some way. The fact that there had been some fresh snow is probably what saved them.’
With more snow and difficult weather conditions forecast, Mr Stevenson says he would strongly advise people to have a good think before heading out on a climb this weekend.
He added: ‘It’s probably about the worst conditions up there right now. Looking forward, there is going to be a lot of fresh snow, meaning poor snow and poor visibility.
‘Checking the forecasts and planning routes accordingly is always key, but I would say people should maybe plan alternate routes if they are heading up and only do so if they really know what they are doing.’