The 22-year-old student was climbing with three others in Scottish Highlands

A 21-year-old woman has died after falling about 150 metres (500ft) on Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands on New Year’s Day.

The Bristol University student from Germany was climbing with three others on a planned expedition along a popular ledge route when she fell.

The tragedy comes only two weeks after the death of another student climber on Britain’s highest peak.

Patrick Boothroyd, 21, a Cardiff University student, died after sustaining a serious head injury when he fell 30 metres (100ft) after a ledge of snow collapsed as he scaled Tower Gully on the 1,345-metre peak on 16 December.

John Stevenson, from Lochaber mountain rescue ream, said the conditions on the mountain were very cold. He said: “I think the rocks would have been pretty icy. It was a big fall.”

The team received an emergency call at around 10.30am on Tuesday, and a coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Inverness airlifted members of the mountain rescue team to recover the woman’s body and extract the other climbers.

Stevenson said: “We had to get the other three off the mountain – they were stuck. The weather cleared and the helicopter managed to get in and airlift them. The woman was located, she hadn’t survived. The other three – I think two men and a woman – were stuck on the route and were clearly very shocked.”

A statement posted on the Lochaber mountain rescue team Facebook page said: “The team had to recover a young climber who unfortunately lost her life following an accident on Càrn Dearg on Ben Nevis. We pass on our sincere condolences to her family and friends. A very sad start to 2019.”

The team went on to thank the coastguard helicopter crew, adding: “We witnessed another example of exceptional flying getting the team into location to evacuate the casualty and in recovering her colleagues from a very difficult location.”

Bristol University said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm that on 1 January 2019 one of our students died in an accident whilst on a hiking trip to Ben Nevis in Scotland. The student was part of a larger group of students who had organised this new year trip to the Highlands.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this student. This tragic accident will be deeply felt across our university community, and we will make sure we have support available to all those affected.”



