We'd spent a few days in a cottage just north of Ballachuilish, called Onich. A great location for exploring the Lochaber summits. Our plan was to head to Aonach Mor and shoot around the summits. Winter had returned in full force, brought in on a storm, dropping plenty fresh snow. So although technically spring, winter was back for one more blast. We'd grabbed a few shots and headed back, the winds were picking up and the temperature had dropped, bring everyone's favourite. Spin drift! The following day the storm had grown in strength and we'd elected to stay in the forests around Onich and look for a bit of wildlife. We were in luck at least as there was a couple very hungry red squirrels happy to pose for shots.
We headed up to Fort William for lunch, on the drive up the Glencoe mountain rescue team were heading up at pace. This could only mean one thing, there had been a serious incident. Our thoughts were correct, soon after pulling into Fort William we heard the news that there was an avalanche on Ben Nevis and that there were a number of climbers involved. Sadly three climbers had died.
Over the next few days images of them before the accident started to appear in the daily papers, I looked at these images and felt heart sorry for them, there families, friends and those who knew them. They'd gone out for a great day, in a location that is famous for it's beauty and ferocious nature. They would never have a chance to tell their stories of the climb or enjoy the photos they would have taken. Wherever you are guys keep climbing x
