9:31am Thursday 18th March 2010
LEGENDARY mountaineer Alan Hinkes has described how he was only two seconds from death when he was engulfed by an avalanche in the Lake District.
A wall of snow gave way and thundered towards him as he climbed on the Scafell massif, near Borrowdale, last Wednesday.
It was only his quick thinking that saved him as he neared the summit of Window Gully at Great End, which is 2,986ft high.
Mr Hinkes, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said: “There was a whoosh and I was dragged to the edge.
“I thought, ‘My God, it’s an avalanche.’ I had to get out of the side before I was swept to my death.
“I managed to get myself out by rolling and jumping and using my ice tool. My quick reactions saved me.
“If it had been a few seconds earlier I would have been swept away.
“I would have gone another 1,500ft back down the climb I had just come up. I wouldn’t have survived that – I would have been mashed to bits.”
Two fellow climbers dialled 999, believing he was buried alive.
A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter was scrambled from Prestwick, Scotland, and mountain rescue volunteers from nearby Wasdale rushed to the scene with dogs from the Search and Rescue Dog Association.
Mr Hinkes reached the summit and met with the pair who raised the alarm just as help arrived.
The group was given a lift back down the mountain in the helicopter.
Afterwards, Mr Hinkes said: “I was really glad I didn’t die that Wednesday because the next day the weather was absolutely beautiful.”
Mr Hinkes thanked the climbers who raised the alarm and the “unsung heroes”
who came to his aid.
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