Climber 'survives 1,000ft cliff fall' in the Scottish Highlands

Adam Potter, 35, suffered only cuts, bruises and three minor back fractures after the fall on Sgurr Choinnich Mor, near Ben Nevis, on Saturday afternoon, PA reports.

Potter said: "We got to an area where it is a bit more slippy and a bit icier, so I said 'let's get our crampons on and get the axes out behind that rock', which was about five metres away, and as I walked towards the rock I slipped, and that's when the fall began to happen.

"The speed accumulated really fast. I was trying to slow myself down but every time I slowed myself down I would then go over a cliff edge, so I would get all my speed back, and then I would land on a slopier bit again and try to lose some more speed and then I would go over another cliff and so it went on."

He added: "Towards the end I had almost lost all of my speed, then I actually saw what I was about to go over, which was one more cliff, and I actually thought that would be it. I thought that might have been the end on that one."

Potter was rescued 35 minutes after the fall by a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, Ayrshire, which was already in the air for training purposes.


/Digital spy/