On the 19th of November, 1971, a group of high school students from Ainslie Park School
in Edinburgh set off for a weekend adventure in the Cairngorms - a rugged mountain range to the
north of the city. As bad weather settled in over the highlands what started out as a weekend hike
would soon turn into a life and death battle for survival
from which six of the group would never return. The UK is a country with few wildernesses.
The vast majority of land in the UK is owned or farmed. The woodlands which exist are generally
managed. There are no deserts, no vast inland lakes, no huge tracts of untamed wild. Even
in the country's National Parks visitors are rarely more than a few hours from civilization.
The Scottish Cairngorms, then, are perhaps the last remaining area of real wilderness
to be found in the UK. The largest National Park in the country, this mountainous area is named
for its largest peak: Cairn Gorm. It's an area which offers opportunities for hiking, climbing,
camping, kayaking and cycling. It's home to the only free-ranging herd of reindeer in the UK,
and is a place where you can spot all kinds of wildlife that you simply wouldn't see elsewhere.
The Cairngorms are beautiful, but they can also be somewhat dangerous. The slopes of some peaks
are sheer, small avalanches are common, and slips, trips and falls account for a number of injuries
every year. By far the greatest danger, though, is the weather, which can change incredibly rapidly
at higher elevations. While much of the area is undeveloped, some facilities have been installed
to help keep visitors safe and comfortable. Rudimentary but cozy huts known as bothies
are dotted around the hills, to be used as stopping-off points on multi-day hikes,
and at higher elevations there are several very basic shelters made of metal sheeting
and stone - little more than windbreaks designed to be used only in emergencies.
One of these shelters - the Curran Bothy - would play a role in the Cairngorm Plateau Disaster,
the worst mountaineering tragedy in British history.
On the 19th of November, 14 students from Ainslie Park School in Edinburgh
arrived at the Lagganlia Outdoors Center in the Cairngorms. The outdoor center was accustomed to
hosting school groups and would be a comfortable place to spend the first night. The next morning
the real adventure would begin: a 17-kilometer (or 10.5-mile) hike from Cairn Gorm to Ben Macdui.
It would be a challenging trek for the children, most of whom were only 15 years old,
but they were excited for it. They would be using the walk as an opportunity to practice making
basic "bivouac" shelters in snowy conditions. Leading the hike was 23-year-old Ben Beattie, the
outdoor activity instructor from the school. He was joined by his partner, 20-year-old Catherine
Davidson. Though less experienced than Ben, Catherine was nonetheless approved by the school,
and had at least experienced the Cairngorms in winter a few times before. The group was also
accompanied by 18-year-old Sheelagh Sunderland - a volunteer from the Lagganlia Outdoors Center.
Given that foul weather was forecast for the weekend some precautions were taken. The
group was issued with cold weather gear and the leaders agreed a firm plan, which was reviewed
and approved by management at Lagganlia. They would attempt the hike as best they were able,
but if conditions got too bad or the children too tired they would abandon their goal and
instead take shelter at the Curran Bothy. The next morning the group set out quite late in the day,
driving to a car park in the hills and then using a ski lift to get a start into their hike.
After riding up together they split into smaller groups with the more experienced hikers,
led by Ben Beattie, striking out ahead while six of the younger and less experienced children
followed along behind. This second group was led by Catherine Davidson with the
assistance of volunteer Sheelagh Sunderland. Ben's group pulled ahead. Catherine's group
followed along some way behind. As the day wore on the weather worsened, and both groups quickly
realized that they would have to make use of their emergency plan and head for the Curran Bothy.
Ben's group reached the emergency shelter with only moderate difficulty. They scraped snow away
from the entrance and bedded down for a chilly and uncomfortable night. Though the weather was bad
they weren't too worried. Catherine's group, they were quite sure, would have found shelter
at a bothy lower down the mountain. But this was not the case. Catherine's group,
being nowhere near the Curran Bothy, had indeed diverted to head for a different, closer shelter.
Before they could get there, though, they were surrounded by whiteout conditions.
Worried about getting lost, and with the children in the group distressed and panicky,
Catherine decided to stop where they were for the night.
The group built a wall of snow and bivouacked behind it, huddling together for warmth.
One thing that must be understood when considering the events which followed is the effect of cold.
Cold of the kind experienced by the children bivouacked on that exposed mountain plateau
makes everything more difficult. It muddles thinking, numbs fingers, makes simple actions
insanely difficult. Tasks that should take mere moments can take hours. As the body uses all its
available energy for keeping warm an incredible exhaustion makes it hard to move, let alone hike.
The party remained confident at first, talking and singing to keep up their spirits...
but soon, however, sleep overtook them.
When they woke the next morning it was to find themselves almost completely buried by snow.
Two were more able than the others. Catherine, the group leader, and a boy named William Kerr
were still able to move freely. They worked together to dig out their buried companions
and to keep them calm. Realising the danger of their situation,
Catherine and William attempted to go for help... but made it only a few steps from their camp.
Waist-deep snow and howling winds sent them back to the bivouac.
It seemed then and there that there was no way out: they would have to wait for rescue.
As Catherine's group waited, Ben's group was making its way back to civilization. This was not
an easy task - they were almost entombed inside their shelter by a huge drift of snow, and later
had to abseil down a sheer slope with one child in the group slipping and narrowly avoiding injury.
By a mix of determination and good fortune they made it to the nearby town of Aviemore
by late afternoon. On arriving, they discovered that Catherine's party was unaccounted for,
and raised the alarm. A search began. Roaming the hills with flares, some rescuers came
painfully close to finding Catherine's group. Catherine saw the light of their
flares through the driving snow, but her own flares were buried beneath the snow,
and however loudly she shouted she could not make herself heard over the howling wind. The rescuers
passed them by, and they were condemned to another night on the mountain. On Monday morning, almost
two days after setting out on the hike, Catherine and William Kerr set out once more to seek rescue.
Exhausted beyond endurance, William collapsed in the snow. Catherine persevered, walking then
stumbling then crawling along. Eventually her bright orange jacket was spotted by a helicopter
crew, who were able to rescue her. Though barely conscious she was able to give a general location,
and with this information the other children were found within hours.
Unfortunately, it was too late for all but one of them. 15-year-old William Kerr, 15-year-old Susan
Byrne, 15-year-old Lorraine Margaret, 15-year-old Diane Dudgeon, 16-year-old Carol Bertram,
and 18-year-old Sheelagh Sunderland had all passed away in the cold.
15-year-old Raymond Leslie, the smallest of the group
around whom the others had huddled to provide what little warmth they could, survived.
An inquiry into the incident was held early the next year. It was clear that many mistakes had
been made. Such an arduous hike should never have been approved for children of that age,
and should certainly have been reconsidered in light of the weather forecast. The group should
have started earlier in the day and should not have taken the chairlift, as doing so denied them
the opportunity to assess walking conditions before they had traveled too far from help.
It was recommended that, in the future, outdoor activity leaders should be formally certified
to ensure they had sufficient experience, and hikes should be chosen carefully with regard for
the age and experience of the people involved - especially when those people were children.
The inquiry stopped short of blaming any one individual, and did not ban school trips to the
Cairngorms altogether, as it recognized the value of allowing children to participate in adventurous
outdoor activities. The effectiveness of the emergency shelters was called into question. The
Curran Bothy had been established for many years, and was a focal point for hikers in the area.
Some people argued that the shelter was essential - the protection it provided in an
emergency could be the difference between life and death. Others countered that the fact that
the shelter existed at all gave hikers a point to aim for, and therefore encouraged them to
push onwards in bad conditions when - if no such shelter existed - they would have to turn back.
While there were passionate arguments made from both sides, in the end the current Bothy and one
other were demolished. The Cairngorms continue to be enjoyed by many thousands each year.
Schools still visit. The Lagganlia Center is still used by school trips... but now whenever
a hike is undertaken the people leading it are certified and trained to an agreed-upon standard.
Though the occasional small incident is inevitable,
never again has there been a tragedy on the scale of the Cairngorm Plateau Disaster.