A Scottish mountain claimed its fourth life in less than two months yesterday when a climber fell 500ft in the Cairngorms.
The man, who has not yet been named, was among a group of six who were undertaking solo climbs on Coire an t-Sneachda. He was tackling the Crotched Gully on his own when he fell at about 2.30pm.
Another climber who heard his screams alerted the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, which rushed to the scene, and a helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth was also scrambled to assist in the rescue operation.
The man was airlifted by helicopter to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
John Allen, leader of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, said: "Because he was on his own we don't really know what exactly happened.
"He was tackling a snow cornice at the top of the route up Cairngorm Plateau, about 4000ft up the mountain. It is a 1500ft climb and he was tackling a technical part when he fell about 500ft to the Corrie floor."
Coire an t-Sneachda is one of the Cairngorms' most popular winter climbing spots but recently it has also been the scene of tragedy.
Four lives have now been lost since November, when two men, one a student from Aberdeen University and another a graduate, became trapped in atrocious weather on the mountain.
Richard Hardy, 18, from Hampshire, and Graeme Cooper, 23, from Aberdeen, collapsed only 20 minutes from the safety of the Cairngorm ski-slope car park in waist-high snow and 120 mph winds.
The two men had arranged to meet friends from the university's mountaineering club after their climb and when they failed to turn up the alarm was raised.
The men were forced to spend the night in freezing conditions before they were found 400 yards apart. The were rushed to Raigmore Hospital, but they died a short time later.
In December Neil Bachelor, 26, of Inverness died after falling as he made a solo ascent of Aladdin's Couloir and in the following week, three people were injured in two separate incidents on the mountain.
A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said: "About 2.30pm, a fatal mountain incident occurred in the Cairngorm mountain range when a male climber fell approximately 135 metres and sustained fatal injuries whilst climbing Crotched Gully on Coire an t-Sneachda."
He said that the man's name would not be released until next of kin are informed.
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