Climber found alive and standing after 1,000ft mountain fall

[n2doc]

Maev Kennedy and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 30 January 2011 13.07 GMT


A climber who fell 1,000ft (300 metres) down the face of a Scottish mountain was found by a rescue helicopter, standing up and studying a map and suffering only cuts and bruises.

The 36-year-old man, who has been named as Adam Potter, from Glasgow, was in a group of four climbers who reached the 3,589ft summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, about five miles from Ben Nevis, early yesterday afternoon, when he lost his footing and fell. He was kept overnight at the Southern General hospital, in Glasgow, for observation for injuries that were said to be "non life-threatening".

Police said Potter was happy for his name to be released but would not be giving any interviews. They described him as "the very fortunate climber".

His first piece of good fortune was that a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter was already in the air on a training exercise and arrived at the scene only 35 minutes later.
more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/30/climber-found-standing-up-scotland

[xchrom]

1. and looking at a map?!?!

:spray:

[nc4bo]

3. At least he wasn't climbing and texting lol

This has got to be one of the most bizarre stories I've read in a while.

That's one lucky fellow!

[Codeine]

4. "Let's see. . . last I knew I was headed downward, very rapidly." nt

[lunatica]

7. He was planning to walk the rest of the way home

[somone]

2. How did he not break anything?

Unbelievable luck.

[Uben]

5. He fell 1000' down, but.....

....they didn't say it was straight down. He could have just slid down some snow, making contact with some exposed rock along the way. That would explain the bruises and cuts.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. The BBC says it was the eastern side; looking at an online map

it looks like the first 150 feet was on a smooth slope of about 45 degrees; then 400 feet or so was over rocky ground with a slope of perhaps 60 degrees; then perhaps 150 feet on a smooth slope of about 30 degrees; then the last 250 feet on another rocky slope of about 40 degrees. So, not free fall, but far from smooth either.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. I had a friend in college who fell 1500 feet and lived

He rolled more than fell. He was scraped up and bruised but no broken bones. The doctors called it a miracle and his picture was on the front page of our college town newspaper and the mountain town in Montana where he was hospitalized.

[siligut]

9. The myth of The Highlander started out this way

Some people are made of sturdier stuff and some people have a mindset that keeps them going. This guy looking at a map, rather than staying down, makes me think he is one of those people. He was also lucky and falling in the first place was carelessness in a situation where there should have been none.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. "I got knocked out ... I was trying to work out where I was and how I'd got there"

"I was slipping down on ice and snow and I tried to lose some speed at that point but it was very difficult - my speed gathered pace very quickly," he said.

"But then every now and then I would go over a cliff edge and any speed I had lost immediately came back because I was just free-falling at that point.

"And then I would hit more snow, another slope, so I would go with that slope for a while and then go over another cliff...and it went on and on.
...
"I got knocked out and when I came to, I'd lost a bit of my memory so I wasn't sure where I had got to on that day so I was trying to work out where I was and how I'd got there," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12319952

Video interview here: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Ben-Nevis-Climber-Falls-1000ft-Down-Mountain-Near-Ben-Nevis-But-Is-Barely-Injured/Article/201101415918851?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15918851_Ben_Nevis%3A_Climber_Falls_1%2C000ft_Down_Mountain_Near_Ben_Nevis_But_Is_Barely_Injured

[Safetykitten]

11. What was that show about Scottish immortals?

[lunatica]

12. Highlander n/t

[petronius]

13. Very very lucky dude! If they have casinos in Scotland he may want to

go take a spin... :)