A Scottish climber was rescued by his pal after he plunged 100ft into an icy ravine on a remote mountain in Pakistan.
Alastair Swinton, from Leven, in Fife, was part of five-strong British team attempting to reach the summit of 22,545ft-high Koyo Zom, the highest mountain of the Hindu Raj range.
However, during their descent on Saturday at about 19,000ft, Alastair fell into a large crack in a glacier, sustaining a serious head injury.
Quick-thinking friend Tom Livingstone, who lives in the Highlands, sprung into action.
As he was roped together with Alastair, he was able to pull him out of the crevasse and raised the alarm.
A Pakistan army helicopter was scrambled to assist but due to a miscommunication over the location of the climbers, specialised teams had to carry out a six-hour evacuation mission.
All five climbers – Alastair, Tom, Will Sim, Uisdean Hawthorn and John Crook – were eventually brought to safety.
Alastair is now at a local hospital for treatment to his head wounds, where he is reported to be in a stable condition.
Writing on Facebook, mountaineering journalist Anna Piunova explained how the rescue unfolded. She said: “Pakistan Army Aviation was asked to assist in the evacuation.
“The climbers were spotted very close to a high ridge. The pilots made seven attempts to land. However, they couldn’t manage to touch down because of strong winds.
“The pilots managed to indicate to the climbers to move about 300ft away where there seemed to be open ground, away from the ridge.
“Alastair was the first one to be evacuated. The helis went back the third time to evacuate Thomas.”
Alastair, 30, is said to have “cheated death” in 2013 when he was caught up in an avalanche in the Alps.
On his blog he says he comes from a family of outdoors people and tries “to be out in the mountains as much as I can enjoying my time, climbing, skiing, running and having fun”.
