MOUNTAIN rescuers have described the struggle they faced trying to rescue a climber whose body was found in the Highlands.

The 39-year-old man, who has not been named, was found dead near the summit of Bidean Nam Bian in Glen Coe. He was the fifth climber person to perish in Glen Coe this year, after four died in an avalanche in January

John Grieve, team leader of Glen Coe Mountain Rescue, said pilots had found it was impossible to fly the rescue helicopter.

He said: "It was a very technical rescue considering the terrain he was stuck on, as he ended up on a 1000ft face, half-way down, so it was very difficult for us to get in and get him out.

"Our biggest problem was the wind. We couldn't fly a helicopter and it was literally blowing you over and considering everything is so icy - it was a fairly arduous thing. We found his body about 6pm on Friday, but I deemed it too dangerous to try to carry on.

"We didn't have enough equipment anyway, as we were out searching for someone else to start with, so we made the unusual decision to leave the body on the hill overnight and recover him the next day."

The dead man was in a group of five descending Bidean Nam Bian, the area's highest peak at 3773ft.

The alarm was raised at 3.20pm on Friday, and the search-and-rescue operation involved police and an RAF helicopter. His death takes the number on Scottish mountains in 2013 to 12.