1,200 feet and died.

Again the Ben is called a killer mountain. The Eiger, the Matterhorn, Tryfan - all earn this synonym at some time, as if they were animate and malicious. Neither the mountains nor the elements are murderers. In romantic moments our favourite mountains may be invested with personality, but they should not be endowed with malignancy as an excuse for personal incompetence.

A few days after the schoolmaster died in Coire Leis, Lees and I were going up to the summit by the same route (that is, from the arête) when we witnessed a peculiar performance.

A solitary figure was descending the slope from the summit on his backside, feeling his way carefully from rock to rock. He was bare-headed, bearded, and wore so many clothes he appeared to be spherical. His axe protruded, stiffly or wavering, at awkward angles. He was on the wrong side of the poles.

He beamed at us.

“A glorious day,“ he announced.

We were investigating the last accident, and the combination of the bloody patch at the bottom of the line of fall and this remarkable figure at the top, made my hysterical. I set my teeth and said nothing, wondering if Lees were about to castigate him with one of those familiar tirades which would make me cringe in vicarious embarrassment.

“The snow is extremely hard“, the man informed us gravely, “lovely. I am going down to Steall for a cup of tea.“

He continued down the slope. I watched him thoughtfully. Later I saw him poised on the arête. Would he try to descend the iron-hard snow to the CIC hut after all - another place where so many had died? With some astonishment I realised that I didn't care . I had been doing research into accidents for so long that I was played out of emotion. I was aware of a curiosity that was purely academic. If he survived today what were his chances of survival during the following year?

No person, however competent, should venture on the convex slope below the summit of Ben Nevis without a rope, and if there is no rope in the party - the party shouldn't be there. Continue to Chapter 12