Climber Survives 1,000ft Fall
By Rocky Thompson on January 31st, 2011
A Scottish climber who was part of a 24-person team fell off the near-vertical face of a 3,589-foot mountain landing 1,000 feet below. A Royal Navy helicopter spotted him at the bottom of the slope about 35 minutes later. He was standing up reading a map.
“It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall.
“It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying.”
The helicopter landed a paramedic who reported the man was okay except for some superficial cuts and bruises, but that he was shaking uncontrollably from the experience. They flew him to the hospital for observation just to be safe. Hopefully he doesn’t get stuck with the ambulance bill on that one.
