Tributes paid to trailblazing mountaineer pair who died on Ben Hope

● Nisbet and Perry had previously established new routes on Munro

Tributes have been paid to “pioneering” climbing partners who died in a tragic accident while scaling a Munro in Sutherland.

Andy Nisbet helped create more than a thousand winter climbing routes and contributed information to dozens of guidebooks to Scotland’s most northerly mountains.

The Aberdeen-born climber – nicknamed the “Honey Monster” for his beard and long hair – and partner Steve Perry got into difficulty on Ben Hope on Tuesday.

It is understood the longtime friends had reached the 927m (3,041ft) peak of the mountain before falling on the upper slopes.

Ben Hope is Scotland’s most northerly Munro.

The climbing community has paid heartfelt tributes to the men, hailing Mr Nisbet for his “boundless enthusiasm” and “pioneering attitude”.

Hiker and broadcaster Cameron Mcneish said he was “utterly devastated” at the men’s deaths, describing them as “gargantuan characters” in the climbing world.

Mr Nisbet, 65, received the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture at the 2014 Fort William Mountain Festival.

Mr Perry, 47, also a highly experienced climber, was originally from Lancaster and grew up in Todmorden in Yorkshire. It is believed he joined Mr Nisbet on the ascent this week in an effort to establish new winter routes on the mountain.

David Whalley, a former RAF mountain rescue team leader, described Mr Nisbet as “the most active prolific mountaineer that Scotland has ever produced”.

He added: “He has climbed over 1,000-plus new winter routes all over Scotland – his enthusiasm was dynamic.

“Never in the history of Scottish mountaineering has anyone been so prolific or enthusiastic and introduced so many to the mountains, especially in winter.”

Mountaineering Scotland said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the climbers’ deaths, adding they were “a huge loss to the mountaineering community in Scotland”.

A spokesman for the membership organisation said: “Andy was popular and well respected in the Scottish climbing scene with a vast knowledge and experience of Scotland’s mountains.

0 Steve Perry and Andy Nisbet in action during a previous climbing expedition

“He was a prolific climber of new routes and his successful partnership with Steve had resulted in a number of first ascents on Ben Hope in recent years.”

He added: “Steve Perry was also a well-known mountaineer, who had completed an on-foot round of the Munros in the winter of 2005-6 and was a keen climber in both summer and winter, who listed new routing in winter Scotland as one of his favourite climbing experiences.

“We send our condolences to family and friends of both Andy and Steve.”

Mountaineering Scotland also paid tribute to the mountain rescue teams and the Coastguard personnel who were involved in responding to the accident.