A climber who survived plunging 1,000 feet down a gully on Ben Nevis while his companion died has been named as ice climber David Warden (46), from Stanley.
Mr Warden remains in a critical condition after being airlifted to hospital in Fort William.
He survived the fall while tackling a “classic route” on the mountain, known as Zero Gully, with his friend, who has yet to be named.
They were roped together when the accident took place on the north face of the 4,406ft mountain on Sunday morning.
Rescuers were alerted by another climbing party who were nearby and heard screams shortly before 11am.
Members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team and a Sea King helicopter were dispatched to the area.
The men were airlifted to Belford Hospital in Fort William, but sadly Mr Warden’s colleague had died.
A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: ”No additional details in relation to the deceased male climber are to be released until the next of kin can be notified.”
The Perth-based Mountaineering Council of Scotland said Mr Warden was not a member.
”We don’t know him and he is not a member,” said Mike Dales, membership development officer with the group, who added that such accidents were rare.
John Stevenson, the mountain rescue team leader, said: ”We got the call around 11am to say two boys had fallen on the Ben. Some climbers in the area alerted the police and we sent in a team.
”We located to two guys and they were airlifted to hospital, but unfortunately one of the did not make it.”
He continued: ”They fell over 1,000ft, which is quite a distance. The other guy is lucky to survive. It is another tragedy on the Ben hopefully we don’t see any more this winter.”
The Zero Gully is one of Ben Nevis’ three most popular ice climbs near the summit of the peak, along with Point Five and The Orion.
The UK’s highest mountain attracts more than 125,000 people every year. This weekend’s incident was the first fatality of 2012 for the Lochaber mountain rescuers.
Photo by Flickr user alpiniste