1971 UNIMAGINABLE Mountaineering DISASTER - 15-YEAR OLDS! --WORST EVER In Britain (Cairngorms)

 

Tragic mountaineering disasters are all too common on extremely high altitude mountains such as K2, Cho Oyu, and of course, Mt. Everest. However, even on some more moderately sized mountains, tragedy can always strike. In 1971, a group of 15-16 year old students were taken on an expedition in the remote area of the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands. This mountain range can reach a height of just over 4000 feet above sea level, a seemingly small number compared to the massive 29,000 foot Everest. Nevertheless, the conditions on the Cairngorms can be extremely unpredictable and during this innocent and routine expedition, the deterioration of the weather would leave 8 young climbers fighting for their lives in what became Britain’s worst ever mountaineering disaster.

The Cairngorms are a beautiful region of mountains in Scotland which include long glacial valleys and several mountains, such as the 4,295 foot Ben Macdui and the 4,085 foot Cairn Gorm Mountain, from which the region gets its name. The severe and unpredictable weather make the area very challenging for mountaineers as snowfall can occur at any point during the year along with whiteout conditions, freezing temperatures and extreme winds that make it very difficult if not impossible to see, walk or communicate. In 1993, the wind speed measured at the Cairngorm Summit Weather Station reached 176 miles per hour. Still, due to the manageable altitudes and natural cliffs and granite, which are great for rock and ice climbing, the area is popular with mountaineers.

Ben Macdui

In November of 1971, 14 students from Ainsile Park School, which was located 75 miles south of the Cairngorns in Edinburgh, were staying at the school’s outdoor training center, Lagganlia, near the mountain range. 23-year old Ben Beattie was an instructor in outdoor education and was put in charge of the youths. He was experienced in the field of mountaineering but not so much in the Cairngorms themselves. Two other adults who also helped manage the center were 21-year old Catherine Davidson, who was also Beattie’s girlfriend, along with Shelagh Sunderland, an 18-year old volunteer instructor. Only Davidson, although not an experienced mountaineer, had any actual experience climbing the Cairngorms during winter.

The three instructors and 14 students set off on November 20th, 1971, on a two-day exercise, with plans to cross the Cairngorm Plateau towards Ben Macdui. They would separate into two different groups, one more experienced group of mostly boys led by Beattie and another made up of four girls and two boys led by Davidson and Sunderland. The teenagers in this second group were 16-year-old Carol Bertram, and 15-year olds Diane Dudgeon, Lorraine Dick, Susan Byrne, William Kerr, and Raymond Leslie. Their route would take them across the plateau and down to the Corrour Bothy, where they would spend the night. Then, Davidson’s group would return along the Lairig Ghru and Beattie’s by traversing the Cairn Toul and Braeriach. Emergency plans stated that the group would go the Curran shelter.

Curran Shelter

The weather almost immediately began to deteriorate after the expedition set off. The emergency plans were set into place for Beattie’s group and they successfully made it to the shelter. They spent the night there, and the shelter gave them just enough warmth to survive. Unfortunately, Davidson’s group never showed up. The next day, they struggled to get out of the shelter due to the massive amount of snow that piled up around it during the night, but eventually made it out and braved horrific conditions across the plateau, eventually reaching a hut with a telephone late in the afternoon, where they called for help and were safely taken to the local police station, where Beatie reported the other group missing.

Ben Beattie

What happened to them the previous night is a horrifying tale. After struggling to find the shelter, Davidson decided that the white-out conditions would make it impossible and they had no choice but to bivouac out in the open on the plateau. They did so at a site about 500 yards east of the shelter, which turned out to be an accumulation spot for snow. The 6 teenagers and 2 adults sheltered in their sleeping bags, but the snow became deeper and deeper throughout the night, threatening to bury them. Davidson and one of the boys in the group tried to go for help but were quickly forced back by the relentless blizzard. Temperatures dropped and their bodies began to freeze. Breathing became extremely difficult. The following morning, Davidson set off alone to seek help.

Multiple rescue teams had been dispatched to help search for the missing party. With helicopter support at around 10:30, Davidson was spotted, crawling for help. Unfortunately, the pilot was unable to move quicker than a walking pace due to turbulence. Eventually, two men were unloaded and they reached Davidson, whose legs were locked in a kneeling position. After some struggles and delays due to the storm and loss of vision when the helicopter attempted to speed up, kicking up snow everywhere, Davidson was finally picked up. She was suffering from advanced hypothermia, with hands frozen solid. Somehow, she was able to whisper “burn – lochan” referring to the Lochan Buidhe, a small freshwater lake nearby where her group bivouacked. She then said one more horrifying word “..buried.”

Catherine Davidson

Rescue teams searched near this area, sometimes waist deep in the snow. Beattie was also assisting in the search and, along with other rescuers, came across the scene. The six students were buried deep in the snow. One by one, they were uncovered and clearly dead. That is, until the 6th student – Raymond Leslie, was unburied and still, somehow, barely breathing. He was airlifted to a local hospital.  Five teenage girls along with 18-year old instructor Shelagh Sunderland had perished on the mountain and were left there until conditions improved enough to remove the bodies. Raymond Leslie and Catherine Davidson both made full recoveries.

Every one from the school back in Edinburgh were in shock. There was extreme confusion on how this could have happened. An inquiry was held and it was discovered that the consent form issued to the parents never mentioned that winter mountaineering was involved nor did it say where specifically the exercise would take place. One father of one of the lost children said he thought the trip was simply to Lagganlia, the new training center, and did not realize any actual mountaineering was to take place. Only one parent knew about the expedition in the Cairngorms.

The leader of one of the rescue teams, John Duff, considered the winter bivouac a serious mistake.

“to attempt a winter bivouac, in a storm, on a Cairngorms plateau, is literally a life or death decision and a last option.” He also criticized the entire exercise, calling it “an appallingly over-ambitious expedition for teenage children” and blamed all those who had approved the plans, including the head of Lagganlia, John Paisley, who could have vetoed the entire mission.

The inquiry concluded that parents should get more information on such expeditions. The inquiry also called for better training and more expertise regarding the instructors, who were very young themselves. The disaster had a major impact on mountaineering as politicians considered banning mountaineering courses for children.

Catherine Davidson moved to Canada in 1978 and married. She is now known as Catherine Murray Brown. In 2021, she said "I think as long as we are alive, we will remember it. But we are all getting on. It was 50 years ago. I don't know if it will carry on much beyond living memory once all of us are gone.”

Raymond Leslie lives in Scotland and has never spoken publicly about the tragedy. He went to become a top-class canoeist.

Ben Beattie was appointed a job at Glenmore Lodge Outdoor Training Centre, but in 1978, he died from a 2500 foot fall while climbing Nanda Devi East in the Himalayas.

As for Ainslie Park School – it closed in 1991. The site was redeveloped for housing and today, only the main façade remains.

There is no memorial there for the five students who lost their lives in November of 1971.