Man Survives Lochnagar Avalanche

A climber survived an avalanche on Lochnagar at the weekend and ended up either being dug out by friends or on top of a pile of snow at the bottom of Black Spot (sic.)

In the first version of the story in the Daily Record, the climber was swept 800 feet and 'found lying on top of a pile of snow in the mountain's Blackspot Gully'. In another version of the story on the same paper's web site, 'hero pals' dug him out as 'completely submerged in snow before being rescued'.

The Scotsman clarifies the issue with its report that the confusion arose because the man was carried so far that he was intitially hard to locate, hence the fear that he had been buried. In fact he came to rest on the surface.

Whatever actually happened, the 62 year-old man had a lucky escape and apparently suffered nothing worse than bruising and suspected broken ribs. He was airlifted to hospital in Aberdeen. Black Spout - Black Spot being from Treasure Island - is a straightforward grade one gulley which oftten has a substantial cornice.

The Record also quotes a Met Office spokesman as being 'astonished anyone had attempted to climb Lochnagar in yesterday's conditions'. Clearly the Met Office staff aren't into Scottish winter mountaineering where conditions are rarely anything other than filthy.

For the latest avalanche forecasts, see the Scottish Avalanche Information Service web site. The current warning for the souther Cairngorms area, which includes Lochnagar, is 4 or 'high' with an overnight thaw making conditions very unstable.