Police appeal for information on missing climber Andrew
Police are becoming ‘increasingly concerned’ and appealing for any information after a climber was reported missing from Fort William over the weekend following an avalanche.
Andrew Vine, 41, was last seen on the west face of Aonach Mor, Fort William, around 1pm on Friday February 28.
He is described as white, five feet 11 inches tall, of medium build with ginger/brown hair and a beard. When last seen he was wearing a red jacket, yellow La Sportiva boots, black trousers and carrying a yellow rucksack.
A search of the mountain and surrounding area is ongoing involving police, mountain rescue teams and the Coastguard.
Leading the search for Mr Vine, along with Glencoe and Cairngorm MRTs, is Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, which stated: ‘There were two people in the party and one was able to make their way out to the ski area of Aonach Mor, despite suffering injuries in the avalanche. Extensive searches have failed to locate the second person.
‘The ongoing high avalanche risk across the search area has not helped the operation and rescuers have been operating in very high risk locations. So far some 120-plus man days have been spent on the search assisted by both R151 from
Inverness and R948 from Stornoway [search and rescue helicopters (SARH)].
‘We are presently assessing as to how we proceed with this search as the weather conditions and the high avalanche risk could put rescuers at risk.
‘We would like to thank the Glencoe and Cairngorm teams for their support together with the SARH crews.
‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing person.’ Sergeant Ross McCartney of Police Scotland, Fort William, said: ‘As time passes, we are becoming increasingly concerned for Mr Vine and would like to speak to anyone who has seen him since 1pm on Friday February 28.’
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at Fort William immediately via telephone number 101 quoting incident number 1915 of February 28.