Man survives falling over 300ft while trying to climb mountain

A 29-year-old man survived after falling more than 300ft down a mountainside in the snowy German Alps.

The British mountaineer went for a hike in a pair of shorts and trainers. He along with three other Englishmen set out for Kehlstein’s 6,171ft peak on Monday, a subpeak of the colossal Göll massif in the Berchtesgaden Alps.

They were facing difficulty navigating due to poor visibility and slippery track when he fell down the rocky gully and suffered serious injuries to his legs, head and feet. It took a rescue helicopter more than an hour to find them in the dense fog.

They were spotted about 45 minutes after their call by mountain rescuers who were able to reach them at their location around 5,000ft up.

The helicopter arrived 20 minutes later, at around 5:30pm and the injured man was winched up and whisked off to hospital. The others were rappelled off the steep slope by the ground crew who had hiked up to their position.

The four men set out that day in shorts and trainers from their camper despite the onset of wintry conditions.