THE bodies of two climbers were found on Lochnagar by rescue services
last night. They appeared to have fallen from the south-facing buttress
of the mountain.
Their discovery brings the total number of deaths on Scottish
mountains this year to 16, with six other climbers still missing
presumed dead.
Grampian Police said they had been unable to immediately identify the
men last night, as no climbers had been reported overdue in the area.
They were checking vehicles in nearby car parks for clues to their
identities.
''We can't tell at the moment how long they have been out there or who
they are,'' said a police spokesman. ''They have both been confirmed
dead and as soon as their identities are established next of kin will be
notified.''
The alarm was raised by a group of four climbers who discovered the
bodies roped together at the foot of Parallel Gully, one of the most
inaccessible parts of the mountain. They marked the position before
climbing out to alert rescue services.
A Sea King helicopter was scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth, and both the
Grampian Police and Braemar mountain rescue teams took part in the
operation to recover the bodies, which were airlifted to Braemar.
Weather conditions in the area were ''reasonable'' said the police.
''They were found by a group of four climbers who had no major weather
problems, and the helicopter was able to fly. So it appears to have been
OK,'' the spokesman added.
Among those still missing on the Scottish hills are a father, his
18-year-old son, and the son's friend, all from West Yorkshire. Mr Allan
Lang and his son Richard, from Dewsbury, and Mr Paul Bower, from
Wakefield, are feared to have died in an avalanche on Buachaille Etive
Mor three weeks ago.
Two men have been missing in the Cairngorm area for two weeks. Mr
Allan Mitchell, 22, of Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, and Mr Graham
Holland, 22, of Rossendale, had been on a week-long climbing trip when
they disappeared in heavy blizzards.
Mr Mitchell, an experienced climber who worked in a mountaineering
shop in Keswick, had been pursuing an ambition to become an instructor
at the Glenmore Lodge Outdoor Pursuits Centre in the Cairngorms.
Another climber from the Manchester area fell through a snow cornice
in early February.
This year's tragic death toll includes Mr Roger Chippendale, who was
trapped on Lochnagar for 23 hours last month. Heroic attempts to reach
the injured man by mountain rescue teams and helicopter crews were
thwarted by 100mph winds, snow, and hill fog.
Mr Chippendale had fallen 200ft and become trapped on a ledge on the
north face of the 3700ft mountain.
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