A father of two who died in a fall on a mountain in the Highlands may have saved his companions’ lives by trying to rescue himself rather than reaching for help, according to his family.
Shaun Bowden, an experienced hiker from Ware, Hertfordshire, fell from the summit of Bidean Nam Bian in Glencoe on March 8.
Shaun (39) instinctively avoided putting his companions at risk and tried in vain to stop his fall alone with an ice axe, his family said in a statement through Northern Constabulary.
“Shaun’s family and friends were devastated to learn of his death on March 8,” they said. “He had spent many hours on the hills in Scotland.
“He was an experienced hiker. Although he was doing what he loved, it was tragic that his death was the result of an accident on a walk that he had been on many times.
“It is a testament to his courage and skill that when he fell, he instinctively avoided grabbing his walking companions which would surely have resulted in their deaths as well.”
