The Buachaille Etive Mòr avalanche

Avalanche

An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

occurred on Buachaille Etive Mòr

Buachaille Etive Mòr

Buachaille Etive Mòr , generally known to climbers simply as The Buachaille or The Beuckle, is a mountain at the head of Glen Etive in the Highlands of Scotland...

 in Glen Coe

Glen Coe

Glen Coe is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the southern part of the Lochaber committee area of Highland Council, and was formerly part of the county of Argyll. It is often considered one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in Scotland, and is a part of the designated...

 in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on 24 January 2009. Three mountain climbers were killed and one sustained a serious shoulder injury. Two of the dead were from Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 and the other was from Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. A total of nine people from at least three countries in at least two separate parties were involved in the incident on a mountain that is well-recognised by tourists to Scotland. Whilst avalanches are not uncommon in the area, very few deaths are reported.

The avalanche occurred in the Coire na Tulaich area of the mountain. Coire na Tulaich affords a relatively easy (but steep) ascent of the mountain in summer conditions and is also the main ascent route for hill walkers. This corrie

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

 has a history of previous avalanches. Prior to this incident, the last fatal avalanche occurred in February, 1995.

Buachaille Etive Mòr (which means "the great herdsman of Etive") is a popular destination for hill walkers and climbers. Two 'Munro

Munro

A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...

' mountains are located on the ridge of Buachaille Etive Mòr. Stob Dearg is the highest peak on the ridge and is closest to the A82 road. Buachaille Etive Mòr features on many postcards of Glen Coe.

Search and rescue effort

Following the avalanche at 12:00 GMT

Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...

, a major search and rescue operation was carried out in blizzard conditions. Rescue helicopters were involved alongside members of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team who were aided by detection dog

Detection dog

A detection dog or sniffer dog is a dog that is trained to and works at using its senses to detect substances such as explosives, illegal drugs, or blood. Hunting dogs that search for game and search dogs that search for missing humans are generally not considered detection dogs...

s. First to arrive at the scene was the RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 rescue helicopter

RAF Search and Rescue Force

The RAF Search and Rescue Force is the Royal Air Force organisation which provides around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands.-History:...

, Rescue 137, which had been diverted from an exercise in the area. A second helicopter, Rescue 177, was then scrambled from the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 station at HMS Gannet near Prestwick

Prestwick

Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the south-west coast of Scotland, about south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr, the centre of which is about south...

. Upon their discovery at 15:00 GMT, the three climbers were airlifted off the mountain, inserted into an ambulance and driven to Belford Hospital

Belford Hospital

Belford Hospital, locally known as The Belford, is a rural general hospital in Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. It is run by NHS Highland and Argyll....

 in Fort William

Fort William, Scotland

Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...

 and pronounced dead at 17:00 GMT. A fourth person airlifted to hospital sustained a shoulder injury, whilst the remaining five people located on the mountain were described as "uninjured". The rest of the climbers were left on the mountain for a period as weather conditions prevented the helicopters from re-engaging in their search efforts.

Cause

John Grieve, the leader of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, said the avalanche was initiated by a climber who dislodged a huge sheet of snow, sending it down on the nine other climbers who were swept 500 feet (152.4 m) downhill. The climber avoided being swept away by digging into the mountain with his ice axe before he composed himself to alert the emergency services. The surviving climbers had begun to unearth their friends' bodies from the snow with their ice axes by the time the rescue team had arrived. Fifty-year-old Jim Coyne from Lindsayfield, East Kilbride

East Kilbride

East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...

, said he and 53-year-old David Barr from Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

, were on the mountain when a slab of snow came away from the peak. Barr sustained the shoulder injury. Coyne told of how they were just below the summit when the avalanche occurred, describing it as "massive" and saying they were

... engulfed and I managed to dig my way out. As I tried to get my bearings I saw an arm sticking out of the snow. It was Davie. I dug for 10 minutes using just my hands to get him free.

54-year-old Tom Richardson, an experienced climber from Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, also had a narrow escape and subsequently alerted the emergency services.