A climber had a “lucky” escape after plunging nearly 1,000ft amid an avalanche on a Highland mountain.
The man and a partner from England had reached the base of the Staghorn Gully on 2,844ft Creag Meagaidh in Lochaber.
But they triggered an avalanche, sweeping one of the men down to an area known as the window while the other – the lead climber – managed to avoid the snow slide.
The incident happened just weeks after two climbers were killed in the Highlands, possibly by an avalanche.
Twenty members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) battled snow and poor visibility to reach the pair, who are understood to have been in their 30s.
Saturday afternoon’s incident was the first of two call-outs for the team over the weekend.
John Stevenson, leader of Lochaber MRT, said: “It was low cloud on part of the mountain but the injured man was below it so the coastguard rescue helicopter from Inverness could reach him.
“He was airlifted to hospital. He slid quite a way and was a very lucky chap. They had not even started climbing the serious part of the climb but they triggered an avalanche.
“He managed to stay on top of it and just ended up with cuts and bruises. He was lucky he slid the way he did.”
The injured climber was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William.
His condition was unknown yesterday but it is believed his injuries were not considered serious.
Last month two climbers – including a rescue team member – died in Glencoe.
Joe Smith, 23, who lived at Kinlochleven in Lochaber, perished died along with experienced mountain skills instructor Simon Davidson, 34, who lived at Fort William.
Yesterday, the Lochaber team was called out for a second time over the weekend to rescue three climbers who were stranded on the hills overnight.
The team was alerted by police after the two men and a woman were overdue from returning from walking in the Mamores, which lie between Loch Leven and Glen Nevis and consist of 10 Munros.
The trio – a man in his 60s and the others in their 50s – from England were overdue on 3,222ft high An Garbhanach.
A coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Inverness airlifted them to safety.