A major search is underway on a Highland mountain after a missing walker was swept away by a devastating avalanche.
And, even as rescue teams responded to the incident, it emerged his wife nearly suffered the same fate before being airlifted to hospital.
Andrew Vine – believed to be from Manchester – was climbing the West Face of Aonach Mor with his wife on Friday when a cascading avalanche knocked them off their feet.
Members of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team scaled the mountain – just two miles north east of Ben Nevis – before locating the injured female walker between Aonach Mor and Carn Mor Dearg.
The mountaineering organisation later confirmed the Inverness coastguard rescue helicopter had been able to wedge its way between the squalls, prior to airlifting her to Belford Hospital for treatment. Her condition remains unknown.
However, 48 hours later, there was still no sign of the missing man as mountaineers, police and coastguard teams resumed their search of the Lochaber peak in an effort to locate the 41-year-old.
Mr Vine is believed to have had extensive experience in expedition mountaineering, trekking across many part of the world including the Indian Himalayas and the Alps.
He is described as being white, 5 11 tall, medium build with ginger/brown hair and beard. When last seen, he was wearing a red jacket, yellow ‘La Sportiva’ boots, black trousers and carrying a yellow rucksack.
Sergeant Ross McCartney at Fort William police said: “As time passes, we are becoming increasingly concerned for Mr Vine and would like to speak to anyone who has seen him since 1pm on Friday, 28 February, 2020.”
Cairngorm Mountain Rescue team were called out on Saturday evening to look for three walkers on Cairngorm Plateau.
Following an extensive search, mountaineers located the missing trio as well as two fellow people reported lost during the initial call-out.
The entire group was safely escorted off the hill.
Meanwhile, the west Lochaber MRT located a walker who was “temporarily misplaced” while descending Ben Nevis after taking a tumble in the area of Antler gulley.
During the operation on Saturday evening, several team members crossed the river Nevis in a 4×4 before escorting the person down as a walking wounded.
February marks a challenging month for rescue volunteers after a number of deaths on the Scotland’s peaks.
Emergency crews recovered the body of 40-year-old climber Tomas Gafrik from Slovakia from the River Nevis on Thursday following extensive searches of the surrounding area.
His death came less than two weeks after Richard Armstrong, 42, from Cumbria fell almost 100ft to his death from Stob Ban into a gorge.
Mountaineers embarked on a six-hour operation to recover his body from the Glen Nevis area.