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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Missing Ben Nevis climbers: Search due to resume | Missing Ben Nevis climbers: Search due to resume |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Rescuers are to resume a search with help from a Coastguard helicopter for two experienced climbers missing on Ben Nevis. | |
| Rachel Slater, 24, and Tim Newton, 27, had been climbing over the weekend but were reported missing on Monday. | Rachel Slater, 24, and Tim Newton, 27, had been climbing over the weekend but were reported missing on Monday. |
| Attempts to locate the couple were suspended on Tuesday because of treacherous weather conditions. | Attempts to locate the couple were suspended on Tuesday because of treacherous weather conditions. |
| Conditions were said to have improved "significantly" but the risk of avalanche remained "considerable". | |
| Separately, concern is growing for three male walkers aged in their 60s and 70s thought to be missing in the Southern Uplands. | Separately, concern is growing for three male walkers aged in their 60s and 70s thought to be missing in the Southern Uplands. |
| Ms Slater and Mr Newton, from Bradford in West Yorkshire, had been climbing over the weekend but were reported missing on Monday. | Ms Slater and Mr Newton, from Bradford in West Yorkshire, had been climbing over the weekend but were reported missing on Monday. |
| They were thought to have been camping near the Charles Inglis Clark memorial hut on the north side of the mountain. | They were thought to have been camping near the Charles Inglis Clark memorial hut on the north side of the mountain. |
| 'Fresh snow' | 'Fresh snow' |
| John Stevenson of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team told BBC Scotland on Wednesday morning that the search operation was being hampered by weather conditions. | |
| While a Coastguard search and rescue helicopter is expected to comb the area from the air, it is unlikely teams will be sent out on foot due to "considerable" risk of avalanche. | |
| A search was called off in "atrocious" conditions on Tuesday after two mountain rescuers set off a small snowslide. | |
| Mr Stevenson said: "There has been a lot of fresh snow so the areas we want to look at are still very unstable. | |
| "We wouldn't like to put people in there until we get a bit of settlement in the snow conditions". | "We wouldn't like to put people in there until we get a bit of settlement in the snow conditions". |
| Experienced climber Ms Slater is a graduate of Manchester University and is employed as an environmental consultant near Bradford. | Experienced climber Ms Slater is a graduate of Manchester University and is employed as an environmental consultant near Bradford. |
| In a blog post, she wrote: "I've been around rocks my whole life as my parents are very keen climbers - most of my childhood was spent scrambling around at the bottom of the cliff with the occasional easy top rope." | In a blog post, she wrote: "I've been around rocks my whole life as my parents are very keen climbers - most of my childhood was spent scrambling around at the bottom of the cliff with the occasional easy top rope." |
| Mr Newton, originally from Leicester, also lives in Bradford and studied physics at the universities of Manchester and Leeds, according to his Facebook profile. | Mr Newton, originally from Leicester, also lives in Bradford and studied physics at the universities of Manchester and Leeds, according to his Facebook profile. |
| Friends and fellow climbers have been posting messages on social media praising the search teams and voicing hope that the couple will be found safe. | Friends and fellow climbers have been posting messages on social media praising the search teams and voicing hope that the couple will be found safe. |
| One wrote on the UKClimbing forum: "Great, enthusiastic young climbers. Such good role models for the sport. | One wrote on the UKClimbing forum: "Great, enthusiastic young climbers. Such good role models for the sport. |
| "I've seen them out and about in the past and follow their logbooks cos they climb routes I'd like to. I hope they are found ok. I'm crossing everything and thinking of them and the search teams." | "I've seen them out and about in the past and follow their logbooks cos they climb routes I'd like to. I hope they are found ok. I'm crossing everything and thinking of them and the search teams." |
| A statement on the Lochaber MRT Facebook page on Tuesday said: "After five hours of searching, it was decided that conditions were too dangerous to continue search which was focused on Coire na Ciste and South Trident Buttress area following a possible sighting of two people fitting their description climbing in this area early Sunday afternoon." | A statement on the Lochaber MRT Facebook page on Tuesday said: "After five hours of searching, it was decided that conditions were too dangerous to continue search which was focused on Coire na Ciste and South Trident Buttress area following a possible sighting of two people fitting their description climbing in this area early Sunday afternoon." |
| It added: "Two of the rescue team men avalanched traversing below No 3 Gully Buttress." | It added: "Two of the rescue team men avalanched traversing below No 3 Gully Buttress." |
| Anyone who was climbing or walking in the Ben Nevis area over the weekend and saw the couple has been urged to contact police on 101. | Anyone who was climbing or walking in the Ben Nevis area over the weekend and saw the couple has been urged to contact police on 101. |