400-foot rock buttress. He was alone. A step gave way and he fell to the foot of the buttress and was killed. Afterwards the papers said that the heavy rucksack he had on his back was the cause of his death, for it pulled him backwards. This was wrong. The rucksack was only a contributory cause - in any event, heavy packs are an essential of the alpinist's and winter climber's equipment. The man should not have been there in the first place. One practises cutting steps on a slope with a run-out, not unroped with a 400-foot buttress below.

Although accidents to solo mountaineers and walkers follow a certain pattern, there is often an element of mystery surrounding them that is never cleared up. In most cases the bodies are found eventually, and one may trace the course of the victims backwards, often right back to the start of the expedition - but one is seldom aware of details, only of a physical course through the mountains or over them. Then, where bodies are never found, there is complete mystery. There are at least two people still missing on British hills: a boy on Ben Nevis and a camper in Glen Coe. The Glen Coe disappearance was very odd. A camper's tent was found empty but with breakfast prepared and ready to eat. It was assumed that the owner had gone for water and had been drowned, but the body was never found.

In January 1945 a boy staying at Achintee Farm in Glen Nevis set out to walk up the Ben in deteriorating weather and against local advice. He left late - at 12.30 p.m. It was snowing heavily then, even on low ground. He was never seen again.

Two years after the boy disappeared from Achintee, a young Army officer, a Lieutenant Gray, aged 24, was staying at the West End Hotel in Fort William. He had little experience of mountaineering but seems to have possessed some idea of mountain safety for, when he left the hotel on December 16th, saying he would be back on the 19th he gave the manageress a note on which he had jotted his proposed route:

Tue 16 Dec
Up to JMCS (Steall hut) at top of Glen Nevis

Wed 17 Dec
Ben Nevis SMC hut and North precipice area

Thur 18 Dec
To STOB CHOIR [Stob Coire Easain?] and thence to Roy Bridge hotel (near Spean Bridge). Arrive approx. 1700 hrs Continue to page 11