THREE climbers were killed yesterday when they were swept off a Scottish mountain by an avalanche.
They were buried for up to 2½ hours under thick snow after hurtling 600ft down the face of Buachaille Etive Mor in the Glencoe range.
Teams using dogs fought blizzard conditions to find the climbers in time but all three were declared dead last night after being flown by RAF helicopters to hospital.
The avalanche struck just before midday.
The three who died have not yet been named. They were among two teams of climbers on the 3,352ft mountain and were about 500ft below the summit. The mountain has some of the most popular winter climbing routes in the Highlands.
There have been heavy snowfalls in recent days and the risk of an avalanche had been described as “considerable”.
Tom Richardson, 54, from Sheffield, said: “I followed the track and the two groups up the hill and passed them just before the avalanche struck. I rode down on top of the avalanche and tried to pull some of the people out. I then went further down the hill to where I could get a mobile signal and called the mountain rescue team.”
John Grieve, leader of the Glencoe mountain rescue team, said: “A party of seven from a climbing club were on Buachaille Etive Mor.
“There was one person ahead of them who was not a member of their party and he had just reached the ridge when the snow broke away below him.
“The seven were carried down about 600ft in the avalanche. Three of those were buried and it’s now been confirmed that they were all fatalities.
“The remainder of the party were not buried and the rescue team found one of them because his boot was sticking out of the snow. They dug him out, so he was only buried for about 30 minutes.
“They then started probing the snow with their ice axes and located the second one [after] about 10 minutes. By that time an RAF helicopter had arrived on the scene and he lifted those first two to the hospital in Fort William.
“A navy helicopter came in to try and drop us in to the scene but it was too wild so we walked and found the third person with probing and the navy helicopter lifted him out. The third person was buried for 2½ hours.”
One of the surviving climbers injured his shoulder.
Two other climbers have died in the area within the past two years.
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Glencoe Avalanche
3 mountaineers were caught in a slab avalanche today in Glencoe Scotland. They were swept 500 feet from a cornice scarp on the normal ascent route of the mountain Buachaille Etive. All 3 were in cardiac arrest. 2 were dug out by companions and one was located by spot probe.
Glencoe Mountain Rescue attended assisted by a Sea King helicopter from RNAS Gannet. The 3 victims were transfered to Belford Hospital Fort William where resuscitation attempts proved unsuccesful. This voie normal has seen many fatal avalanches over the years. Avalanche risk was category 4 with the danger enhanced by new snow and wind.
David Gunn Paramedic GMRT
from PisteHors.com
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Three mountain walkers were killed today and another was injured in an avalanche on Buachaille Etive Mòr.
Five others were caught in the avalanche and had to be rescued. The incident happened about 12.15 this afternoon, Saturday, and sparked a major rescue operation involving Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, a helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth and a Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet.
The mountaineers were caught in Coire na Tulaich, the major corrie under the western flank of the 1,022m (3,353ft) Stob Dearg, facing the main A82 road through Glencoe.
Four people were airlifted to Belford Hospital in Fort William. Police confirmed that one was pronounced dead at the hospital and a second person died later. The third fatality was that of a walker buried under avalanche debris on the mountainside.
The fourth mountaineer airlifted to hospital sustained a shoulder injury.
The five others rescued from Coire na Tulaich were uninjured. Search and rescue dogs were used to find casualties. It is believed the three who lost their lives were in a party of seven when the avalanche struck.
The avalanche forecast for the day, available from the sportscotland Avalanche Information Service, put the risk at category three – classed as ‘considerable’. Risk is rated on a scale of one to five, with five being the most severe. Highest chance of snow breaking away was said to be on north-west and northern aspects.
Coire na Tulaich’s slopes are on the north-western side of Stob Dearg. Snow showers and south-westerly winds had caused a build up of soft slab, only loosely bound to the existing snowpack.
The avalanche risk for tomorrow in Glencoe is set to rise to level four – ‘high’.
Police have not yet released the identity of the dead mountaineers. They are still trying to contact next-of-kin.
Staff from the nearby Glencoe Mountain ski centre also went to the walkers’ aid when the incident happened.
from Grough.co.uk
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Do nothing in haste, look well to each step, and from the beginning think what may be the end.
Edward Whymper
