Lucky escape after 650ft fall

AN Arbroath man who survived a 650ft fall from a mountain with only cuts and bruises was told that 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 couple took up their new hobby of exploring Scotland’s mountains during lockdown and were trying to complete seven Munros at Glen Shiel on April 2 when he slipped.

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

Mr Elliot, 52, said: “Because the sun had come out, I think it slightly melted the snow and I just slipped.”

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

“The first rescuers told me they had expected to find a corpse,” he added.

Mr Elliot was winched to hospital by helicopter after his partner called 999. He was discharged six days later and is now recovering at home.