Tribute To Yorkshire Avalanche Victim
Tributes have been to a 28-year-old Hull University student who was one of three climbers killed in an avalanche.
Phd student Tom Chesters, who was living in Leeds, was swept 1,000 feet to his deaths along with fellow student Christopher Bell and junior doctor Una Finnegan.
All three had been descending from a mountain in Glencoe, in the Scottish Highlands, on Saturday afternoon.
Another woman, who was part of their group, was also killed. She has not been named as her extended family is still being informed. A
24-year-old woman remains in a critical condition after suffering severe head injuries.
One other man who was on the trek managed to survive by leaping from the collapsing sheet of snow and hammering an ice axe into firmer ground.
Mr Bell, 24, from Blackpool, Lancashire, was studying for a Phd in ocean mapping in Oban, while 28-year-old Mr Chesters had been living in Leeds and working towards his qualification at Hull University.
Their friend Sam Morris, 35, said he was mortified to hear of the men's deaths and described the two men as exceptionally competent, experienced mountaineers.
Speaking from France, where Mr Bell and Mr Chesters used to work with him as mountain bike guides in the Alps, Mr Morris said both were elite outdoor pursuits competitors who spent most of their free time on the mountains.
``It was so few years lived but I know there's not much either one of them would have done differently,'' he said. ``They seized every opportunity.''
Ms Finnegan, 25, was originally from Coleraine in Co Londonderry, where her father Dr Owen Finnegan was a well-respected consultant at the Causeway Hospital.
The 25-year-old studied medicine at Newcastle University and took her masters in anthropology of health and illness in Edinburgh, where she had continued to live.
The tragedy struck at about 2pm as the group made its descent on Bidean Nam Bian. A
major search operation was launched involving both Glencoe and Lochaber mountain rescue teams, and specialist police dogs.
