Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Search for couple missing on slopes of Ben Nevis suspended in bad weather

Tim Newton and Rachel Slater
Tim Newton and Rachel Slater

Dangerous conditions on Ben Nevis today have forced mountain rescuers to suspend their search for two missing climbers.

A total of 36 people from Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, the RAF, and the Search and Rescue Dog Association were involved in a five-hour search for 24-year-old Rachel Slater and Tim Newton, 27.

The pair, who are from the Bradford area, were climbing on Ben Nevis at the weekend, but the alarm was raised on Monday afternoon when the couple failed to return.

It is believed they had been camping in a green tent behind the Charles Inglis Clark (CIC) memorial hut on the north side of the mountain.

In a post on the Lochaber MRT’s social media page this afternoon, the rescue team said:  “Very challenging conditions during search for Rachel and Tim. 80/90mph winds with windchill giving temperature which feels like -20c.

“Two of the rescue team men avalanched traversing below No 3 Gully Buttress.

“Today there were 36 people out from Lochaber MRT, RAF MRT and three members of SARDA Scotland.

“After five hours of searching, it was decided that conditions were too dangerous to continue search which was focused on Coire na Ciste and South Trident Buttress area following a possible sighting of two people fitting their description climbing in this area early Sunday afternoon.

“If you were on South Trident Buttress on Sunday could you call Police Scotland on 101 and ask for Fort William Police.”

The couple's tent was found on Ben Nevis
The couple’s tent was found on Ben Nevis

Ms Slater is an experienced climber who is well-travelled.

In a blog, she wrote: “I’ve been around rocks my whole life as my parents are very keen climbers – most of my childhood was spent scrambling around at the bottom of the cliff with the occasional easy top rope.

“In 2005 my family moved to Calgary, Canada, and in 2007 I joined a youth climbing team at my local wall and in 2008 progressed to the competitive youth team.

“We trained three times a week at 6am and competed locally and nationally throughout the winter. In the summer and school holidays I sport climbed with my family in the Rockies and Western States of America.”

She left Canada in 2009 to study at the University of Manchester, from where she graduated with a BSc (Hons) in environmental science.

In September 2013, she completed a six-month contract with an environmental consultancy in Glasgow before embarking on a three-month sport climbing trip to France and Spain.

After returning again to Spain on her own to climb in Catalonia, she “joined the grown up world of 9-5” at the start of last year, according to her online posts.

She is currently employed as a mineral, waste and environmental consultant near Bradford. Her firm, the Mineral Planning Group, has not commented on the search.

Mr Newton, originally from Leicester, also lives in Bradford and has studied physics at the universities of Manchester and Leeds, according to his Facebook profile.

Logbook entries for Ms Slater on UKClimbing.com suggest she has conducted a number of climbs with Mr Newton.

Meanwhile, numerous messages have been posted on social media from people sharing information and voicing hope that the couple will be found safe.

The Lochaber MRT has posted a request for information on its Facebook page.

Responding to the message, Tony Walker wrote: “The missing persons are Rachel Slater (my niece) and her partner Tim Newton.

“Both very experienced climbers. Most likely they are wearing the same clothing as in the photo. Any info greatly appreciated.”

On a climbing forum, Patrick Roman said he saw the pair at the weekend.

Writing on the forum, he said: “I was outside the CIC on Saturday morning. There were two people matching the image in the photo. He was wearing a red jacket and she a green and turquoise jacket.”

The search is being carried out days after Lochaber MRT warned about the conditions on the mountain.

In a Facebook posting on Friday, the team wrote: “Stunningly beautiful today on the Ben, however extremely challenging snow conditions.”

Anyone who was climbing or walking in the Ben Nevis area over the weekend and saw the couple is being urged to contact police on 101.