An EXTREME skier and a climber were both injured when they fell in separate incidents on the same day in Scotland's mountains.

The skier, thought to be 25, was in the Cairngorms when he tackled a particularly steep slope with a friend yesterday afternoon.

Willie Anderson, leader of the Cairngorms Mountain rescue team, said: "Two men were skiing down Aladdin's Couloir, which actually is a gully used as a winter technical climb. One of them lost control for whatever reason and he fell about 164 to 328 feet.

"He was wearing a helmet but he got a bash and the helmet was fractured.

"He was unconscious for about an hour. Some of the rescue team who were on the hill went in and administered first aid to him.

"Just as they finished that the rescue helicopter 177, which had been doing a job on Ben Nevis, came here. We had packaged him ready for the aircraft and it picked him up and took him to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness."

The Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet in Prestwick has been on Ben Nevis after a climber had fallen about 200 feet.

The man was on his way down from the 4409ft high summit when he slipped and fell. The accident happened around noon in the Red Burn area, about 2,500 feet up on the mountain.

An experienced walker who went to the man's aid also fell a short distance injuring his hand.

Six members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue were airlifted by a Navy search and rescue helicopter from Prestwick to get near the main casualty.