Britain's WORST Mountaineering Disaster | 1971 Cairngorm Plateau Disaster

On Saturday, November 20th, 1971, a group of students and instructors boarded a ski lift at the base of Mount Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands. Little did they know, something terrifying was waiting for them at the top. This is the 1971 Cairngorm Plateau Disaster.
Writing and research by Rich Firth-Godbehere
DrRichFG
/ @horrourstories
Attributions/Special Thanks for Photographs
Graham Lewis, Dmitry Djouce, David Masters, Ted and Jen, Jim Barton, Lorenzo K, TheCreator, Paul Wordingham, Ryan Gallup, lemenelgen, Robbie Shade, Rritvos, National Snow and Ice Data Center, Hari Seldon, CNES / Airbus, Airbus, Maxar Technologies, Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Landsat / Copernicus, IBCAO
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And a huge thank you to the Scary Interesting team of writers, editors, captioners, and everyone else who make this channel possible.
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[@OctaveDoct0r]

"Hopefully I will see you in the next one." Sean, i hope you do NOT see me in your next video. I'll just watch thanks 👍

[@lacylaizure6540]

I think that every time. "No you surely won't!"

[@arkzbh]

If you are not much interested in caves or mountains or diving, chances are he won't see you and neither do we. 😂 But if you are, well...who knows 😅

[@lacylaizure6540]

@@arkzbh didn't do much of that before, and I'm definitely not doing any of it now after all his videos! 😂

[@arkzbh]

@@lacylaizure6540 ha ha ha.. same here 😃

[@qwopiretyu]

Only if we disappear mysteriously

[@cher8005]

So after these unfortunate student deaths the local government decides to dismantle the existing shelters - the only things that can save you if you're caught out in a blizzard in areas like this - keeping in mind that these kinds of sudden blizzards are not uncommon in this area. At the same time, they decide that they'll continue to let untrained students go to this place on school outings. Sometimes the depth of human stupidity is truly outstanding.

[@horrourstories]

The rules about who can go, the training the guides and hikers have to have, and the consent the parents have to provide is way tougher now

[@KhoiruunisaRF]

@@horrourstories Still, they don't need to dismantle the shelter no matter what.

[@iwaswrongabouteveryhthing]

government logic

[@ura9390]

yes daft

[@ariell6489]

Truly. I simply can't understand some ppl's sheer stupidity.

[@ae2948]

The group that found the shelter survived. The group that bivouac'd because they didn't think they could find the shelter did not survive. And the lesson the authorities took from that was - THE SHELTERS MUST BE DESTROYED ! Idiocy.

[@deanfirnatine7814]

"Authorities" are invariably idiots

[@jessicataylor7174]

The reason for removing the top bothies was because in bad conditions they are completely covered, leading inexperienced mountaineers into searching for a bothy that essentially isn't there. If people believe they have a back-up or rely on the bothy they can be doomed, while removing them makes it very clear there are no bothies and people must take what they actually need, and if in doubt they focus on descent. The time wasted searching for a shelter that is buried and impossible to find needs to be spent getting off the mountain. IDK what 'the right' call is in regard to this, but it's the decision made by experts including the Braemar Mountain Rescue.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

Such are our governments.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@jessicataylor7174 The right call is to build more of them, just build one ever 100 meters for the entire path.

[@jessicataylor7174]

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 We are not talking about distance apart, we are talking about DEPTH in bad weather. When they are literally buried they can not be found or physically dug out. I also think you may be underestimating the sheer size and vastness of the Cairngorm/Grampian mountain range lol :)

[@esotericprana]

I’m a 46 year old Scottish mountaineer. I’ve spent more days than I care to calculate in The Cairngorms, but I’ve also turned round on many occasions when conditions have taken a turn for the worse. I can’t imagine taking inexperienced kids up into that environment, tragedy in this case was avoidable. I’ve lost count of the amount of people I’ve seen heading into mountain routes in Scotland that they’re blatantly not prepared for, I think there’s an assumption that because it’s in the UK it won’t be as severe as alpine routes. There’s a reason the SAS have done a lot of training in Scotland’s mountainous regions.

[@CaptainFSU]

This reminds me of Mt. Washington in New England, people think oh its only 6,000 feet and has a road and railroad, how bad can it be? And people die on it every year. They get killed by avalanches, by getting lost in snow squalls, or by it getting late and forgoing paths and getting lost in winter. The mountain may have a railroad but it also has the northern hemisphere's wind speed record (edit: it also holds the wind chill record for the US: -108F, -74.8C) but people think since it's close to Boston and New York it must be safe, or that I've climbed the Rockies and this will be nothing. Guess again MF.

[@NJRDC]

People just really don’t think about the power of nature until disaster strikes. It’s just a walk, right? Even just a steep walk. And then it’s too late.

[@rickjustus6416]

Good on ya

[@taran5883]

Scottish hiking is no joke, The mountains can be dangerous and the lower lands can be even more dangerous considering how deep those bogs can be... As much as I would LOVE to hike, wild camp and stay in a couple of bothys I know it'd take some form of training and lots of prep before simply running about in the rain with a backpack !

[@lightfootpathfinder8218]

​@@taran5883I absolutely agree. I often hike in the Yorkshire dales and although the mountains are not as high as the mountains in the Highlands they still need to be taken seriously. On more than one occasion iv seen students attempting to walk up them in flip flops. It boggles my mind

[@floboboman]

When things take a turn for the worst, it happens surprisingly fast even for people who think they are prepared.

[@rockhound3.14]

Do I know

[@nanach6276]

When it rains, it pours

[@kevinbaskovich7973]

Truth!

[@SkiSkillsMontana]

If you are prepared even then you will get yourself out of it

[@talanast.germain2607]

I wonder if their chances would have improved if they would not have split the two groups???

[@jockmchaggis6797]

Never underestimate the changeable weather in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands... its one of the few places you can legitimately get sunburn on frostbite

[@SCZ1111]

I’m confused! Like say someone died out there and got all frostbitten You’re telling me you’d see sunburn patches on their skin as well! 😮

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@SCZ1111 Depends on the actual weather... It's not a guarantee... BUT in the same day you get frostbite in the chill of the morning, the weather can clear and you can be sunburnt on top of it in the afternoon! Mountain weather IS an unpredictable B*TCH! ;o)

[@SCZ1111]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 haha wow so crazy

[@kurotsuki7427]

Any high elevation with little cover is dangerous. Ive been in the Rockies in the USA and seen someone get heatstroke and hypothermia in the same day.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@SCZ1111 Mountains can literally create their own weather out of practically nothing... They're really amazing, but you learn quickly to pack an extra layer or two "just in case" throughout the year... ;o)

[@newshodgepodge6329]

When the wind initially picked up, safety was only as far away as the restaurant they had left about a mile behind them. Why none of the three adults leading the hike realized this is unsettling to say the least.

[@ravenfeader]

It's like a bad horror movie just started the hike and didn't turn back .

[@bronhaller]

that's what I'm still trying to get my head around

[@SatanicBunny666]

As someone who lives in a cold climate (Finland) and is fairly used to super cold temperatures and the occasional severe blizzard, here's my 2 cents based on 33 years of dealing with this kinda stuff in (mostly) urban and semi-urban environments: people are very bad at estimating how cold stuff will get fast and can seriously overestimate their own abilities and underestimate the risks. Back when I was about 20, we're hit with a snowstorm so bad you could barely see 2 meters ahead with the temp somewhere below -25 celsius, meaning way worse with the windchill on top. I had a friend who was about to merrily head out the door and walk home because "it's only 3 kilometers." He was not properly equiped for that kind of weather, and while he could have made it for sure he would have been at least moderately hypothermic when he got home, provided he did not slip and fall and hit his head. But you see, he's done the same exact trek a million times at that point, most of the time in better weather, so in his mind the rationale is 'it's not that far, I've hiked this before, I'll be there in no time'. I eventually forced him to stay with us in 'til the morning and sleep over and he thanked me later I think something like that was at play here as well: they had a plan, and the adults had done the same routes likely multiple times with no issues, so they were locked in to the preset plan as well as the idea that "it can't be that bad" because their own experience was acting against them. Or put another way, to quote a line from the game The Darkest Dungeon: "Remind yourself that overconfidence is a alow and insidious killer."

[@newshodgepodge6329]

@@SatanicBunny666 I like that quote. Overconfidence leads to complacency. Complacency can get you unalived.

[@ariell6489]

​@@SatanicBunny666Well said.

[@thurayya8905]

I feel so badly for the parents who didn't know about the hike and hadn't given permission and THEN found out from newspeople who showed up at their house.

[@xenosmoke8915]

Ah yes, the Cairngorms. As a Scot I can confirm you don’t need to climb Everest for the weather to teach you a lesson in humility. I think one of the most dangerous things about our hills is the view because it lies to you; it makes every climb look easy. There’s just something so inviting about them and it’s a massive lie, you won’t realise what you’ve done until you’re up there.

[@taran5883]

I swear the scottish highlands is just filled with false peaks because the mist hides the true peak 🥲

[@alexanderrothney965]

I recall several years ago hillwalking in the Cairngorms, weather conditions were pretty good but turned to rain after about an hour, soon after, the rain turned to snow and by the time I reached the summit of Ben Macdui I faced whiteout conditions, not unusual for the Cairngorms you might think but this was in AUGUST.

[@spykkielee7627]

Destroying the life saving shelters won't stop people from going where they shouldn't. Punishing the people who approved of the expedition would be a bigger and much better deterrent.

[@ericbartol]

You have to tell adventurers that if they want to try this adventure, certain measures will be taken to help them, but they are basically taking their own lives in their hands. Same should be done for Mt. Everest, Kilimanjaro, Denali, and every other peak on the planet. Same goes for every 'deep blue hole' for cave diving. As a matter of fact, people who want to live in flood plains or on shores prone to hurricanes or flooding should be afforded the same warning. There are just places that don't make sense to go, and if you are senseless enough to dare, you're on your own.

[@MakerInMotion]

I would prohibit all hiking from October to May. Off limits completely.

[@ariell6489]

Absolutely. No logic there at all.

[@aluisious]

"Expedition," lol. It's 4k feet tall. There are hills with roads higher than that half an hour from my house and I live at 70 feet above sea level. You'd have to be an idiot to die on a 4k foot hill.

[@heehokuzunoha7757]

​@@ericbartolNot exactly fair to call people living in flood plains careless. Consider Bangladesh and parts of India and Pakistan. Those people didn't really have a choice they were just born there.

[@pomosapiens]

Imagine sending your kid on a school trip and then the police show up and tell you their feckless teachers decided to drag them into a potentially fatal situation without your consent. I remember a couple of similar situations when I was at school in the 90's and I was actually seriously injured on a school trip. I don't know if it's better today but it's a wonder so many of us survived school.

[@meerkat025]

a foreign exchange kid died on a ski trip, back when i was in school. couldn't imagine being the parent. thinking your kid is in good hands... only to get a call from someone not speaking your language telling you, your child has died during a school activity

[@gregoryfilin8040]

It comes with the territory of scaling. I'm from California, and some schools offer specialty trips to Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Every year, between 1-3 go missing, and 1-2 die. It is accepted as part of the cost when dealing with deadly scenarios, and in those scenarios, it can go from bad to dead in a matter of seconds.

[@taniahylian3799]

Right? I remember being 14 years old and hiking in a huge rainforest area full of jaguars and other dangerous animals at night. Our teacher was a physicist! He didn't know anything about being in the jungle lol, and most of my classmates had never been out in the wild, much less in a rainforest. It's honestly a miracle we all made it out alive.

[@HAL-oj4jb]

A year ago here in Austria there was a group of 99 german school kids and 8 teachers who had to get rescued via helicopter after their teachers brought them on a hike that was far too dangerous for unexperienced children. Luckily no one got hurt, but it became a huge headline in the news here.

[@pomosapiens]

@@taniahylian3799 It's the sort of thing you don't fully appreciate at the time then as an adult it hits you how dodgy the situation was! Glad you made it out!

[@amycimprich6291]

Wow. This reminds me of a book I once read called the Children's Blizzard, about a horrendous blizzard that occurred in the late 1800's in the Midwest. It came about suddenly in the middle of the day, so many children who tried to walk home from school froze to death. Lots of farmers died in their own yard, just a few feet from their house because of the whiteout conditions. You should do a video about it. I have yet to see anyone do a video about it and it is quite a fascinating, if not tragic, story.

[@loredanamihaela8025]

😢😢😢😢 sound like great story to tell

[@gammon1183]

Reminds me of my old physics teacher who was a wonderful guy and experienced climber and walker , he lost his life in France after losing his way in a blizzard and fell 60 odd feet . He was ex mountain rescue so really knew his stuff. Rest in peace Sir, you were a good teacher and we still think of you.

[@CobraaProductionss]

I'm Scottish and I've hiked in the West coast during the winter months with friends more experienced , we got caught with in a whiteout, winds are crazy and so cold water in my camelback in my rucksack froze in minuets its extremally scary u cant hear anything to try and talk, If u stand still for a couple of seconds you get even more cold. I remember thinking of my family and how stupid we were. I've never went hiking again in the snow. Very sad to know what happened to these people as I've experienced it a small % of what they went thru must have been terrifying.

[@thestruggler3338]

Never take a camel sack on ANY trip that may get close to freezing point.

[@angelofmusic1992]

I saw the Scottish Highlands for the first time a few months back. I couldn't imagine hiking on them, they were so massive and intimidating.

[@Lscott-fk2sn]

Just did Ben Nevis for my birthday! Totally recommend doing *during summer* its a 1 day climb, no camping- bring food water, and spare clothes in case it gets cold 👍

[@ThisChannelFTW]

I’ve done Ben Nevis twice in winter there’s nothing like it in the UK unless you leave for the alps! Amazing!

[@ZombieSazza]

We’re very lucky with our landscapes, but even as a local it’s not something I’d try

[@Lscott-fk2sn]

@@ZombieSazza to each their own I guess, still a wonderful view from below :) I would like to try a winter ascent of a safer peak though, perhaps do snowdon again or skafell pike again

[@longbeardbobson4710]

​@@Lscott-fk2snScafell Pike os way more risky, it is the most remote of those three peaks. Ben Nevis has a nice easy path straight up, Snowden too as well as the railway.

[@vanguze]

So dumb to destroy the shelters. You can't control people.

[@karacrane2269]

Yes and if someone is stuck and that shelter is their only hope, it’s good for it to be there.

[@misseselise3864]

destroying the shelters is only going to lead to more deaths

[@jessicataylor7174]

In bad weather the shelters are often buried in snow and impossible to find. The time and energy trying to find them is better spent getting off the mountain, or making temporary shelter. Without the top bothies people know they need to take sufficient equipment and plan descent if weather conditions are too bad. It's easy to think removing them is bad but the experts, including the Braemar Mountain Rescue made this decision so no-one else would die looking for a bothy that is impossible to find.

[@kittyychampagne4092]

people are gonna go in the middle of the mountains if they want to like we might as well have a few shelters just in case ugh so true

[@jordobuppo]

​​​@@misseselise3864if people go into the mountains inexperienced knowing the risk of extreme weather and knowing there are no shelters and refusing to care about that, plan ahead, or anything, they had it coming.

[@loolafly7967]

I remember my dad discussing this incident years ago. Many people including himself disagreed about removing the shelters. He was ex SAS and had hiked the cairngorms many times and knew the land well. It’s not the shelters that cause the problems it’s the human error. Even now people still find themselves lost due to poor weather and poor preparation. Hikers underestimate how difficult and dangerous the cairngorms can be as it’s “Just in the Scottish highlands”, and it’s this type of stupidity that leads to people getting into trouble. Thanks for covering the story. I’m from Edinburgh myself and I love the picture you used showing the capital. Edinburgh it’s a very beautiful city and is well worth a visit if you get the chance xx

[@whiteyfisk9769]

Every city that is and has ever been, looks like a complete abomination and wart upon the earth

[@adriankelly_edinburgh]

A friend of mine was actually on this trip and survived, having chosen not to go on the expedition that day. I hadn't seen him for a few years but I caught up with him a couple of months ago at a mutual friend's wedding and I mentioned that I'd recently watched a youtube documentary about the tragic event (on a different channel). He still remembers it well and said that he had had the chance to go with the others that day but just didn't fancy it, so he stayed in the valley. A very lucky escape for him! As a mountaineer I have been onto the Cairngorm plateau many times in all weathers: it's not a place to be trifled with.

[@aluisious]

If removing the shelters will save lives by dissuading people from hiking there, why not go a step further and bury landmines on the trails?

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

LMAO

[@Maxime_K-G]

Very good point. It conveys exactly what the problem is with that line of thinking! Just teach people about the unique conditions and dangers of the plateau. Making it even more unsafe on purpose is ludicrous.

[@wbwbc89]

Ohh smart, that'll really show'em!

[@MoonlightCircus]

It's not about disuading people from hiking. It's about encouraging people to hike *prepared* and not rely on a shelter they may not be able to find in bad weather. When people think they have a safety net, they tend to prepare like they have a safety net (i.e. not as well as they otherwise would) and take risks they wouldn't otherwise take, and they may waste time looking for that safety net instead of getting themselves out of the situation, or worse, they may stay out longer than they should, because they think "Oh, it's ok, there's a shelter. We don't need to get down tonight." You can educate people until you're blue in the face; they'll still take dumb risks if they think they can justify them. People, especially inexperienced people, are horrible at calculating risk.

[@esteemedmortal5917]

Freezing to death is definitely on my shortlist of ways I don’t want to go. How awful to feel your warmth and life ebbing away but be too weak and disoriented to do anything about it.

[@na-vn5qy]

sounds like one of the easiest/most painless ways to go to me personally, like one step down from passing in your sleep. dying prematurely period is going to suck, but if i had my choice, i mean..

[@stee8345]

Ok this sounds morbid, but I've actually heard it's one of the most peaceful ways to die. Drowning would be much much worse imo...

[@esteemedmortal5917]

@@na-vn5qy you spend a long time being horribly cold until you get to the point of losing consciousness but that’s my reasoning; I really hate the cold 🤣

[@na-vn5qy]

@@esteemedmortal5917 i hate the cold as well, but you'd be completely numb and would no longer really feel the cold long before the point of unconsciousness. the death itself would be painless.

[@endtimesninja1235]

Actually it's one of the best ways because right after you feel like you're warming up you become lethargic, pass out and never wake up.

[@cmdrTremyss]

So no repercussion on the instructors, who planned the trip? This is truly tragic.

[@muchtested]

One assistant died, the other had severe hypothermia when found on the ice, and the third brought all his set back alive. Which one do you want to punish?

[@ericastapleton7042]

That's pretty crazy how some of the parents didn't even know they were going hiking in the Highlands. As a parent I would be so mad they weren't up front with what they were doing. Thank you Sean @Scary Interesting⭐

[@vld7850]

SUE THEM INTO OBLIVION!

[@brendanbruce6135]

yeah sue the kids for forgeing there parents signatures@@vld7850

[@KingJudahpat]

@@vld7850they put a new meaning to that

[@howhigh0521]

I hope those parents got a good lawsuit. Literally signed a waver asking if their kids could go to a rec center but really it was to die off in the mountains 😢

[@jackoh991]

Doubt it, that's not how it works in the UK

[@lucieirl]

@@jackoh991people can always file lawsuits we just do it way less than Americans. If this was my kid’s school I’d definitely be seeking action no way could they get away with it!

[@wipeout2098]

My Dad, my brother and myself had everything start the same way on the same route but we called it off at the plateau when the weather went bad. A couple of amazing things were that gaining only 100 meters onto the plateau took us from calm sunny weather into a whiteout arctic storm and descending only 100 meters on the other side took us right back out of it, and that during the storm an ice crystal blasted off the ground cut my Dad's face like a small razor, so always wear goggles or glasses if it gets windy on a snowy and icy mountain. Smaller mountains are not to be underestimated.

[@d.awdreygore]

The adults involved in this should have faced very serious consequences, this was all avoidable.

[@jujubean8452]

Ironically, Ben died a few years later from a fall climbing the Himalayas

[@LaitoChen]

Lets take down the last resort shelters so hikers arent tempted into using them. Well if its a last resort they clearly thought about turning back BUT COULDN'T. Grief makes people dumb.

[@djinn666]

This is very much a case of "something must be done, this is something, therefore it must be done".

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

People are just dumb. Period.

[@SpeedoSnipes]

Entirely what I was thinking at the end. They're condemning people to potential death rather than doing something that might mitigate future incidents. Grief is a hell of a drug, but I don't want what these people are smoking.

[@danielmesa2102]

Yeah, it is so stupid. They should have built even more shelters.

[@GloomyGhost28]

Yeah, I've seen this case earlier. "Some children got frozen?, let's demolish the shelters we built to protect people from getting frozen." I get they needed to do something. Those extra rules on school trips are fine, but the shelters literally did nothing wrong. One arguably saved the other group

[@melaniesipko8181]

Was there any legal action taken against the school or teachers? If they really took them on a completely different trip than stated in the permission slip, I would think they'd be charged with something like reckless endangerment or even manslaughter...

[@n25ctl]

I stay about an hour away from the Cairngorms, born and raised in Inverness, and I had never even heard of this! Thank you very much for sharing this, you’re a fantastic storyteller. More stories from Scotland would be interesting too ☺️

[@utopia5534]

I agree about more Scottish stories..it was so interesting hearing about this..this was such a sad story though..poor children..I'm in Scotland not from the Highlands though..I live in a little seaside place just on the outskirts of Dundee.. Inverness is lovely..hubby and I went last year..tons of snow on the mountains driving in.🙂

[@adriankelly_edinburgh]

This was one of the reasons that Glenmore Lodge was founded.

[@erichobbs4042]

I grew up in California and spent a lot of time in the Sierra Nevada. When I moved to the UK in my twenties, I went up to see the Scottish Highlands. Looking at the mountains on a map, it was all very deceptive. Hah, 3000 ft elevation?!? That barely counts as a hill. But the thing is, the latitude is a lot higher than California, and the weather is far more unpredictable. My wife and I got half way up Ben Nevis, and had to turn back, since what had started out as a pleasant spring morning, turned quickly into a winter shit show. Since we were dressed in jeans, and light windbreakers, that was a perfect recipe for hypothermia in my book. I learned a valuable lesson. Don't underestimate the ability of the Scottish Highlands to kill you. I've been back plenty of time since, but I have always over prepared, and despite getting caught in few more nasty storms, it's all been breathtakingly fantastic.

[@thestruggler3338]

Hmm, Jeans...need you say more.

[@erichobbs4042]

@@thestruggler3338 It wasn't the best decision, but in my mind it was not that big of a hill. This " foothill" was hardly worth kitting out for.

[@simontuffen8243]

Jeans are about the worst thing you can wear on a hike in any weather. Heavy and absorb sweat or rain like a sponge.

[@tony.bickert]

Where to start. Kids? You took kids up there? To that dangerous place? In winter? You didn’t check conditions? You didn’t tell parents? You split up and left the most vulnerable of them? Yeah - I’m talking to the teacher. I’m a retired teacher who took kids on many field trips. This scenario needs to serve as a reminder to teachers BEFORE they take reckless chances with other people’s young sons and daughters.

[@thestruggler3338]

hey teacher....don't leave those kids alone.

[@squiglemcsquigle8414]

Hiking tours and mountain climbing tours are quite common tbh. The major issue here isn't taking them it's that they kept going even after they were late and conditions were horrendous

[@theoutsider6191]

Imagine trying to get permission for a school trip like this one now.... serious mountaineering trip in mid winter for a bunch of novice kids. Mental.

[@schectermeister]

I will never understand why people want to put themselves in unnecessary danger on pointless expeditions like this... what a waste of life.

[@butternutpickle234]

I went hiking in the cairngorms a few months ago. At the top, the conditions went from clear to a white out within minutes! Definitely no joke! One of the coolest experiences ever, though and my Fiancé and I were able to get out of the white out fairly quickly Whenever hiking, stay extra safe. Those poor people 😢

[@Volcano-Man]

I recall this event. As I recall the teachers were not qualified to lead a group into the mountains, they had no experience of the conditions that existed and had not checked the forecast. Also none of the group had foul weather clothing, survival equipment etc. It shook many people, and caused a change in attitudes. People leading groups had to be qualified in survival techniques. The tragedy is that as usual, it took death to improve safety.

[@okeynwachie]

Idk why but this one hit me like crazy. I could just imagine her digging out one kid, hands aching and numb, just to hear another screaming, over and over again.

[@MackenzieNerdyEMT]

It sounds like hell

[@cleopatra1633]

She failed them and then abandoned them. Hope she had a nightmare every day of her life.

[@craigWS]

As someone from Scotland, this type of content is really good and interesting. Scotland has lots of interesting untold stories. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@reiddutchess9955]

Everyone in America is taught that Scotland is a large wheat field covered in stills that constantly produce whiskey. Just a massive field of spirits and that is it. Island of booze.

[@migmigjohnson9351]

“Quick! Tear down the shelters that worked!” The fact the human race made it this far is a complete mystery to me.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Well... It's pretty obvious that the "Rule of the Jungle" we hear as kids... you know... "Survival of the fittest"... It's a LIE. The reality is "Survival of the good enough."... and apparently that bar gets misplaced and inappropriately snuck around WAY TOO OFTEN! ;o)

[@cerebralm]

We used to understand that death was a fact of life, and avoiding it at all costs could easily be more harmful then accepting it and moving on. Modern society has forgotten that.

[@starshard0]

@@cerebralm Yeah turns out people don't like dying.

[@cerebralm]

@@starshard0 We are all going to die. Damaging (or risking) the lives of others in order to ignore that fact for a few years longer is unacceptable.

[@pepebeezon772]

>guy saved by seatbelt after losing control driving 160 kmh in a blizzard >ban seatbelts so idiots won't drive too fast

[@Errcyco]

Jesus.. that story never let up. It was absolutely brutal from the beginning, to the bitter end. Even the copter pilots experienced some crazy stuff. Absolutely awful, rest easy kids =(

[@monumentlandscapeservicesl6464]

The "experienced group" should have known better. Only a lunatic keeps hiking uphill in a driving snowstorm.

[@merczeph79]

Definitely stupid as hell to remove the shelters. Everyone knows it's dangerous up there, lets not make it even more so by removing perfectly good shelters. No matter how well you plan your trip there is always a possibility shit goes sideways, which is what those shelters are/were for. They happened to save the first group, and would have saved the second group if they had found the one near by.

[@chocAscetic]

It's not 'stupid as hell'. The Curran Shelter was in an extremely exposed and fairly remote place. It should be understood that when we say 'shelter' we mean a pile of stones with a thin corrugated roof. It may be buried in a matter of hours by a blizzard. Look up the 'El Alamein bothy' for a similar example (in a more sheltered location). Navigating to such a tiny and fragile place during life-threatening conditions may be inadvisable. It's possible that if the group had headed North instead of committing to the plateau they could have escaped. These bothies naturally serve as attractions, or even a misplaced hope, for individuals who may not be able to cope with the hostile environment they are in. Placing them in unforgiving locations is questionable at the least.

[@merczeph79]

@@chocAscetic so having shelter in an "extremely exposed and fairly remote place" is a bad thing? LOL

[@chocAscetic]

@merczeph79 Keep sitting at your computer and I'll keep enjoying the Cairngorms 👍

[@GunNlazor]

Yeah, dismantling the shelters was really stupid, but at least the other changes can help prevent this from happening again.

[@ceu160193]

@@chocAscetic They are specifically in unforgiving locations, so should you end up in a pickle, you have some chance to survive it. Or, at very least, chance to be found and properly buried.

[@stephenwong8053]

this, mrballen, and divetalk. my absolute favorites right now. thank you all

[@sampsqwantch4612]

i love comments like this cus i get to find new channels. i already watch mrballen but but i never heard of divetalk so thank you!

[@Chilling_Chilling]

Ballen Is a *content thief* and his cringe thumbnails are enough to make anyone unsubscribe

[@stephenwong8053]

@@Chilling_Chilling everything is theft, he just a better story teller than most. But I love this channel as well. This more so than ballen but both good

[@stephenwong8053]

@@sampsqwantch4612 dive talk is really really good, it took me about 2 videos to get used to their nuance but man its incredible. After hearing all these stories and being scared to dive or explore they go into detail how handle situations etc. You have to watch the video of dive talk reacting to mr ballen about the mike young and sean incident in florida. Mike youngs actual accurate story is INSANE.

[@technohamster4783]

Mr Ballen brought me here, him and probably Simon whistler

[@Bootmahoy88]

This strikes a bell with me. I am so saddened by the tragedy, but I can relate to the description of the weather changing in a heartbeat. I was on tour with an acting troupe from America in 1994, and we stayed a full week in the highlands as a well needed break/mini-vaca from the grueling tour schedule. I took many walks. One day I ventured rather far from the beautiful hotel where we were all staying. The sky was vivid blue, temp was mild in the upper 60s, then suddenly, as if a switch were thrown, it clouded over heavily, the temp dropped about 30 degrees (I am not joking) and a heavy blizzard commenced, so heavy I couldn't see ten feet in front of me. Scared the bejesus out of me. I didn't know what to do. In an instant I was chilled to the bone, then just as suddenly as it came on, the sky cleared, snows stopped and the temp shot back up at least 20 degrees. It felt unreal. Stopped me completely. I waited, curious to see if it would happen again, and it did, four times in all before I hastened back to base. It was getting dark, and I didn't want to find myself lost. I'll never forget this experience.

[@BobRossgamingshorts]

As a Scot who has climbed 138 Scottish mountains the weather changes fast but mostly it is beautiful

[@BobRossgamingshorts]

When the weather gets bad you. Simply turn back

[@speleokeir]

One thing the video didn't mention is how quickly it gets dark in Scotland during the winter. You only get a short period of daylight. Leaving at 1.00pm meant they only had 2.5-3 hrs before dark, when the temperature drops very quickly too. It's an 8hr drive to the highlands from where I live, so when I go it tends to be for a week. We get up when it's dark and aim to be on the hills and walking as the sun comes up. We aim to be off the mountain by 3.00pm ish as it's fully dark by 4.00pm.We always carry headtorches in case we're delayed and don't get down before the light goes. These people were well prepared and with experienced leaders and it doesn't sound like they did anything dumb, but still got caught out by the sudden change in conditions. Tragic.

[@cellokid5104]

170mph? That's CRAZY

[@jeffreyadams6738]

FYI - cairn means a small man made mound of rocks that serves as a memorial.

[@05pittsd]

Cairns also serve as markers

[@alm4655]

Teacher: "I think we could take some of our teenagers up the Cairngorms for a challenging and complicated hike this year, they'd really enjoy it" Principal: "Are you sure they'd be safe?" Teacher: "Of course. Me and my mate have enough experience to lead them and keep them out of trouble" Principal: "Well, OK then. When do you think would be the best time to take them up the mountains, then?" Teacher: "Winter." Principal: "Excellent."

[@RobCarmina]

Demolishing the shelters was madness - they should build more of them and equip them with fuel, water, tinned food, a compass, first aid supplies and printed information such as its own grid reference, first aid instructions in the case of hypothermia and directions to the nearest safer location. Also each shelter should have a tall mast beside it flying a red flag, so that if the shelter becomes buried in snow it can still be found. I know this would cost money - but if they want to make the Cairngorms safer this is what is needed.

[@foggy808]

Crazy that I’d never heard of this. This is my local snowboarding mountain. Weather there is very changeable indeed but seems insane to even set off on such a trip without a couple days good forecast. Removing the bothys though, would be an unforgivable outrage, those are pieces of living history and still in use

[@codygarland3246]

My life was potentially saved by a bothy in the Highlands in April, in Sutherland. They are so useful and should be protected at all costs

[@billythekid3234]

This story was just heart breaking. Your voice and overall telling of these storys have become so expert on your part! I ty for the time and effort!

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

I grew up in the Highlands of Scotland, the mountains aren't the biggest but the arctic conditions at altitude with rapidly changing weather conditions can be absolutely lethal.

[@user-tw8pv9ff1d]

This Teacher "Ben Beattie" guy who was responsible had such a sick idea to take "CHILDREN", Students for Climbing on a Mountain for experienced hikers is crazy, I would say he should be charge for manslaughter of 4 School Children who lost their lives. There is no justice for the Victims on this sad Story

[@tehfiredog]

Possibly the craziest part of all of this is that they actually had a decent plan for what to do. They had someone experienced in a general sense and one experienced with that specific area. They made sure to have the right gear and to train and prep before hand. They got review and approval by fellow experts (the outdoors center) and when things went sideways, both groups executed the backup plan as best as was possible. And yet... none of it mattered at all, in the face of nature's fury.

[@Uncle_Fred]

Canadian here with subarctic camping experience. No way were these people prepared for this trip. All backcountry camping trips should plan for an emergency camp in-place. This group was reckless. Their plan relied on the local building shelters. They didn't carry or know how to build adequate shelter for an emergency camp. The trip leaders are responsible for getting everyone killed.

[@danielmesa2102]

​@@Uncle_FredI agree that not bringing the proper tents or shelters was surprising. Every group needed to have them as backup plan, but even if that works, you can also get buried together with your shelter.

[@Allen75000]

“There’s so much snow, we have to take the ski lift.” “Good idea. Let’s continue onward.” 🤦

[@nwcolbert]

I went on a highlands tour a few years ago and our tour guide was actually a part of the rescue expedition. I didn't know all these details when he talked about it and it all just seems so much worse now.

[@gbeagle417]

Man I have to stop bingeing these types of vids. It's getting to where I know peoples new stories

[@josephpk4878]

Seriously, the weather changes in an instant and it can be violent - and I'm a West-Coast Canadian that has seen a lot of brutal mountain conditions. There's no shelter from the conditions in the Highlands and you'd be better off in Arctic tundra. I've been stuck on the Ben Nevis in a brutal storm and that was in the summer - if it was winter, I'd be dead.

[@jimf671]

This was a pivotal event in the history of mountain rescue and general public safety provision in Scotland. Up to that point, very few of the mountain rescue teams that now cover all of Scotland existed and some areas depended on clubs and other organisations that were not primarily rescue organisations. The ad hoc arrangements for reinforcing the group doing the searching that are described in the video are not untypical of the arrangements of those times. Police forces, particularly the local Inverness Constabulary and their neighbour Ross & Sutherland Constabulary, spent the following years encouraging and financing more formal arrangements amongst the available volunteers. John Allen's book 'Cairngorm John' described some of how this panned out at Cairngorm MRT. The air support of the time was provided by Westland Whirlwinds of the RAF. A fine rotorcraft in its day, it had nothing resembling the navigation and search equipment of modern SAR aircraft and depended, in the circumstances that existed in the search area, largely upon intuition and raw courage from those flying it, or hanging under it. With regard to its power in the face of such wild conditions, consider the comment of one experienced RAF Team Leader who, describing its downwash, said, "You could stand under a Westland Whirlwind and it wouldn't part your hair." The matter of the removal of the bothies is not as simple as it might sound. The main problem with these, and many other similar bothies in the Scottish Highlands, is that although their location may seem logical in summer conditions, or even sheltered in rainy and windy weather, when visibility becomes very poor and snow is being deposited by wind, these locations are the worst possible. First, they are impossibly difficult to navigate to in bad conditions, most particularly because they are not on a geographical feature that naturally leads the navigator to them. Second, locations best sheltered from the weather are areas of maximum deposition of wind-blown snow which leads to structures being buried. El Alamein refuge remains but has only survived because it is in an incorrect location. Scotland has a unique inquisitorial court procedure called a Fatal Accident Inquiry that can be convened to determine the circumstances of fatal incidents. One of the circumstances that must be determined is, "the precautions, if any, by which it might have been avoided, any defects in the system or mode of working which contributed to the accident," and in this case useful recommendations resulted. At the time, the law provided for the attribution of blame to a person or persons but no such determination was made.

[@user-sm5cl1gn3k]

I'm an Edinburgh lad 12yo at the time and can remember the horror all over the city. Latter years my older sister had a flatmate that was related to one of the victims, beautiful girl, but so troubled by events. Thanks for what aas a pretty respectful retelling

[@gamuchiraishantelchawandiza]

Very educative. I have learned to stay in my house never to go out

[@danfred579]

Stories are always told in a way to keep me glued. Never disappoints

[@TheColdHarshTruth]

I’m a 46 year old Scottish snowboarder, climber, rope access worker with some mountain rescue experience. I’ve spent my life in these mountains, they are no joke. I’ve snowboarded and climbed all over the world, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Spain, Greece, France, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, Canada, USA, UAE, South Africa, Egypt and Namibia so I have a lot to compare too. The Scottish mountains are severely underestimated, we have more fatalities a year than the Rocky Mountains, let that sink in.

[@ScrypKat56]

I can't believe legal action wasn't taken against whoever employed these 'adults'.

[@nancyjones6780]

I can't believe how many subs you have now! Well deserved! I love this channel! ❤

[@ScaryInteresting]

It is unbelievable to me too! Thanks, Nancy

[@DoubleAplusJ]

You absolutely deserve it! ❤

[@Emily-the_funny_guys]

I subbed early on too, absolutely love your videos 😎 dude. Your research and details are amazing

[@murph5290]

The 'bothy' isn't just a feature in Scotland, they are built all over the UK. Another UK school disaster was the the Lyme Bay canoeing trip; might be a good subject to look into.

[@Nturner822]

You really have a knack for portraying just how difficult the simplest things become when everything goes sideways. Keep up the great content

[@hubertdenise3100]

I’ve been in the scottish highlands and the other upland mountain areas in UK, and trust me, despite the UK usually being pretty safe to wander in, it’s anything but up in those places.I went to Scotland in may half term/early June with my dad , and the highlands still and cairngorms still had plenty of snow, heck Ben Nevis the last 150m we found ourselves having to traverse snow up to three foot deep.In the Cairngorms, despite it being 27 degrees in the lowlands as a heatwave existed, it grew so foggy you could barely see and plummeted to 7 degrees by 4pm.There was no one around.In the Lake District the uplands are empty, barren, and the roads that do exist are few and small, some even use gates to go through.My mum thought a trail existed above a tarn despite what she said, but ended up lost on the other side of the mountain in a far valley and there was no cell reception so we just waited by the car at the bottom of the mountain wondering what had happened, it took until 5 hours passed to learn where she was from Mountain Rescue, she had eventually found a rural pub but again she could not call until then.In Snowdonia it’s sharp and craggy, the weather is very changeable and cold even in summer, it snows heavily and in summer when I went it was freezing, the paths many winding empty trails and few signs of people, and you have no idea where you’re going until you’re lost.They aren’t safe for everyone, you need to be careful.Sadly, these kids were led to slaughter by adults who misled them on the danger.And then there’s the climate.Despite how most see the UK, it can get very cold, even in the south.We had -15 degrees a year or two ago, and last December it got really cold, cold enough that we had more then a week of temperatures never exceeding 0 degrees, with heavy snowfall resulting in 18cm of snow in the flat east anglia area I live in, the sun didn’t come out and it plummeted at night to -10.It can get very cold and winter like if the right wind blows.When the beast from the east happened, it got severe, to the point the school bus turned over and crashed on the iced over road, and you could barely see ahead of you, it was so bad that at my secondary school during break and lunchtime you couldn’t be out for more then 10 minutes, the teachers even opened the library after seeing people close to freezing to death, as that day it was -6 at most.They should have recognised the wind for what it means, north easterly is the most dangerous as the east is coldest, coming from Siberia, which is responsible for many cold waves we have had, and due to moisture coming from the sea rising and cooling, they should have stuck to the lower altitudes, as it also is much colder at top then bottom of uplands, it was 27 when I went up Ben nevis at the bottom/lowlands, it was 11 degrees at the top.Now imagine it’s only 3 degrees at the bottom.

[@alexharvey2943]

Great video. Just wanted to say in terms of the geography of Scotland the Cairngorms is quite some distance from Edinburgh not just north of it.

[@casinodelonge]

Ah but by American standards, its just up the road.

[@SuperNevile]

@@casinodelonge Reminds me of some Americans who told me they were going to bicycle around Britain in 3 weeks during a holiday, and all the places they were going to visit.

[@josephdillard9907]

Removing shelters built for safety to make people safer, decisions made by emotional people can be really stupid sometimes.

[@ikeresnal-douglas4774]

the highlands are 4 hours away from edinburgh and are not “just north of edinburgh” btw

[@eadweard.]

To an American, 4 hours is "just" :)

[@CobraaProductionss]

🤣🤣

[@eadweard.]

@@kelticd5397 Why's that?

[@eadweard.]

@@kelticd5397 But Paris is 12 hours from Edinburgh.

[@jomama5186]

You are a very gifted storyteller

[@TheBlackalachian]

I’ve hiked in the cairngorms. Those are serious mountains and the boggy ground in the highlands is tough going through…

[@penninewild5970]

There is something unique about Scottish Highland weather, almost sinister. The rain is big fat rain that soaks you constantly into misery, the fine rain is like a cold steam room, the fog feels like its trying to suffocate you, the hail is like being sandblasted, the snow hits you constantly from dozens of different angles making you confused, the wind penetrates your clothing and skin and feels like someone is crushing your bones with pliers, very weird weather. It comes in from the north Atlantic, the arctic and occasionally from Siberia aka the beast from the east.

[@CommunityMartyr]

the attention to detail you put into your videos is terrific

[@ladyE602]

Im in the uk, and I've never heard of this tragic story. So sad.

[@TheQueenOfSheba]

Groups separating never ends well. I’ve seen this a few times already. It’s honestly selfish of the lead person, ben, to do that.

[@chrissibersky4617]

They always do that in movies.

[@cashnelson2306]

You just listen to climbing stories on youtube and don't actually climb, do you lmao

[@Vicus_of_Utrecht]

@@cashnelson2306 She's wearing a mask in her pfp, what do you think?

[@Maxime_K-G]

We did this too when we used to go hiking. There's no problem, that way every level of experience gets an appropriate route. What they actually did wrong was setting off from the restaurant even though they could already see storm clouds. If there's one thing you need to be careful with in the mountains, it's the weather.

[@schutzanzug6731]

@@cashnelson2306 There wasnt enough people in the expedition to properly justify group seperation especally since they are only teenagers

[@joeblack1652]

Great content. Something about you tone just works. Measured, respectful but engaging and informative. Well done.

[@shawng7902]

I cant even imagine what it would be like caught in a total white out well below freezing and all that wind. They couldn't even keep their heads above the snow. Like slowly drowning on land.

[@EdgyDabs47]

You're an amazing narrator. Thank you for covering this! 🇬🇧

[@sevenatenine2441]

I love going hiking in the Highlands but it's definitely something that has been built up over a number of years before trying anything as ambitious and potentially dangerous as a big Munro (like Ben Macdui) in winter. I have been to Corrour several times and can testify to just how cold and windy it gets on the tops round there - I have experienced 70-80mph winds and snowfall as late as May or June in the year. I am always struck by just how remote areas like that still are even today. Even with the ability to call for help with mobile phones it would still be several hours before someone could reach you with a vehicle. Bothies should be kept as they are a vital shelter and also are part of the place's heritage, but obviously they should only ever be relied upon in emergencies and not in a main plan - you should always have your own emergency shelter or tent if you're doing an overnight expedition.

[@horrourstories]

I don't think they'll even get rod of all the bothies. IIRC, the Curran was a newer one with a metal core and wasn't put up by anyone who knew what they were doing in the first place. They just thought it'd be nice to have one near the Lochan.

[@CobraaProductionss]

Munros in the winter are no joke

[@SuperNevile]

"Even with the ability to call for help with mobile phones".............another comfort blanket for total idiots. And as for people who rely on online OS maps or Google mapping.......

[@dimsesneg]

Don't underestimate Scottish hills, especially in the bad weather.Black Cullen,Torridon, Glencoe and Ben Nevis range is very unpredictable in the winter and place of many accidents

[@tedthesailor172]

The Cairngorms are like a science fiction experience. Within half an hour you can be in two different worlds. I practiced in Brecon Beacons (Wales), and up there in Scotland as training for a visit to the Yukon and Alaska. It was good practice because I never encountered anything in Yukon and Alaska to match the shit up in the Cairngorms, even though the former are supposed to get much colder. I'd never dream of going into the Scottish Highlands without my full wilderness pack...!

[@lurkercat3925]

Never clicked so fast in my life. Love your videos 💙

[@floboboman]

Were you gentle with the like button?

[@Velereonics]

That whole freezing like not from cold but from fear on the side of a mountain while climbing is such a real thing it's so crazy and it can happen to very experienced people as well. I remember near lake Sabrina ( Sierra nevadas) there was a guy and his wife climbing the rock this not even difficult rock, just very exposed, and for whatever reason it was not a good day for his brain and he froze. They had to have a lot of rescue people go to try to figure out how to get him down because he literally wouldn't let go

[@McConnachy]

Many people out with Scotland don’t realise how volatile and changeable the weather is, summer or winter.

[@samueldamuel1689]

I've been in beautiful sunshine on Scottish hills only to be enveloped in a thundercloud 20 minutes later, you need to be careful in the Highlands

[@hhuodod2209]

Haveing been in similar conditions in a place very close to hear my self. I can safely say those that took the kids up there should have gone to jail. Even as a adult with modern kit it was hell on earth. Those kids never stood a chance. Really i have no good words for the utter fools that took them. X

[@eric6504]

Thanks for the new video. Much respect to the people in the video

[@ericrichards6252]

Spent most of my life trekking and climbing in the Scottish highlands - very well written and researched narrative. 👍

[@mantia39]

I snowshoe in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan every year with friends. We got caught in a bad snowstorm. Got lost and thankfully we had the forsight to have a couple of EPERBS. Even with these the State troopers had a difficult time pinpointing our location. The only thing that saved us was my green laser. Those things are fantastic in that scenario. As soon as I pointed it into the air,they immediately spotted it and a chopper was on its way. I brought it to point out constellations in the night sky. I highly recommend taking one if you're hiking.

[@Irish-King]

@ Scary Interesting, just wanted to express my appreciation for your hard work and amazing content. The past few years I've noticed that if a certain channel starts to get popular with views and subs that 10 more channels will pop up focusing on the same content! Respect to one of the OGs! It is going to take a lot for a channel to be more scary interesting than you my friend! 🙌🏼

[@edmondantes4338]

"Hard work". Literally everything said in this video can be found on the Wikipedia article, so the research process would have lasted what, 30 minutes?

[@SlimStarCraft]

@@edmondantes4338writing a script and recording a voice over is actually harder than you think

[@paulkasden9758]

Thanks for another awesome video brother

[@TheElusiveReality]

catherine was so experienced but couldnt figure out even vaguely where they were relative to shelter? and decided that staying in one spot would somehow be better than moving?

[@MANUALinappropriate]

Love your channel! Fall asleep to it every night, and have the TRIPPIEST DREAMS! Keep up the amazing work! Ur awesome!

[@tokiwartooth6835]

Wait what? They took the safety shelter down to make it more safe? I would question the efficacy of such a decision.

[@lulugallo7032]

Wow!!! What a story!! You are an amazing story teller. I'm new to your channel but I look forward to more of your awesome channel. For the ones that passed may you all continue to rest peacefully. 🙏❤

[@clivet3846]

Its an unforgiving place. I'm not overly experienced but I walked the WHW in April and temperatures there dropped to -7.

[@chain-wallet]

i hate to "like" stories like this bc they are so tragic, but its all very well narrated and presented, so i liked it. RIP.

[@AJ12716]

That was really sad 😢 I couldn't have survived that. It was brutal weather!! Poor lads and lasses 💔🙏 Never heard this one before. Told it well ya did 👍♥️