Tuesday, January 22, 2013

4 Climbers Die in Scotland Avalanche

Freak snowfall and cold conditions

By: @adnroy)

Authorities on Monday released the name of the fourth climber killed in an avalanche in Scotland over the weekend. Rachel Majumdar and friends Christopher Bell, Una Finnegan, and Tom Chesters, all in their twenties, died on Saturday in a slide on Bidean nam Bian, a 3,773-foot mountain in the Scottish highlands.

A fifth climber is in the hospital with injuries after being rescued by personnel from Glen Coe Mountain Rescue Team, Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, and a dog from SARDA Scotland. One other member of the group managed to escape the slide through self-arrest and was able to alert authorities.

Police say the deceased climbers fell about 1,000 feet before being buried in deep snow.

The rare avalanche is being tied to an unusually severe cold snap on Friday, which dumped snow and stranded passengers at Heathrow airport.

Via BBC

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