A mountain rescue team had to be lowered more than 700ft in dangerous conditions to aid an injured climber who had become caught up in a rock fall.
Members of Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team descended around 200ft to help a casualty who suffered a serious arm injury.
They subsequently had to be lowered another 500ft to reach the safety of the corrie floor with the injured climber.
Team members described the conditions as “extremely dangerous” because of the constant threat of further rock falls at the scene.
The dramatic rescue unfolded on Fingers Ridge in Coire an t-Sneachda, in the most northern corries of the Cairngorms.
The group were flown to the emergency by the Rescue 951 helicopter from Inverness, with the crew being praised for their “great flying” in windy, wet and very misty” conditions.
The casualty was being cared for on a small ledge and the team members descending were lowered down by some careful rope work from their colleagues above.
A few of the personnel received “minor clips” from falling rocks during the rescue operation.
The coastguard helicopter was then able to airlift the injured climber from the bottom of Coire an t-Sneachda and take them to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Cairngorm team leader Willie Anderson said: “This was a technically tricky rescue in some pretty nasty conditions.
“We were all a bit relieved to get the casualty clear of the ridge because of the appalling loose rock.”
He added: “We don’t tend to be called on to do as many big technical lowers as our friends in places like Skye, Lochaber and Glencoe, but the guys train hard so that we get it right when we have to take on a task like this.”
Even as the 20 team members were engaged in this rescue, they were asked to assist two lost hillwalkers on Bynack More, further to the east.
Dave Rutledge, who was controlling the rescue from the team base at Inverdruie, said: “Things got a little busy in the base as we were co-ordinating this big technical rescue, and also assisting another party off the hill with the help of Glenmore Lodge.”
In all, the rescue took about eight hours.
