Businessman ‘lucky to be alive’ after mountain fall

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team’s leader, John Stevenson, claimed Nick Harper, 57, was “lucky to be alive” after the dramatic fall on Ben Nevis on Saturday. Mr Harper, from Sheriff Hutton, had been climbing with two friends on a north face route known as The Cascades before he fell at about 11am.

Mr Stevenson said: “One of our own team members was climbing just across from him when he fell off. He immediately called us and we launched a full team search. The conditions on the hill were very icy.

“When he fell he hit rocks, snow and ice and hurt himself very badly. He hit his head and damaged a lot of bones. When we got there he was lying in the snow with his companions on very steep ground.”

Mr Harper was stretchered down the mountain and then airlifted to hospital by an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter.

The chairman of Waste Management Ltd, in Sutton-on-the Forest, is believed to be in a stable condition, according to work colleagues.