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.

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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.

The Cairngorm Plateau disaster, also known as the Feith Buidhe disaster, occurred in November 1971 when six fifteen-year-old Edinburgh school students and their two leaders were on a two-day navigational expedition in a remote area of the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands.

While the group was on the high plateau, the weather deteriorated and so they decided to head for the Curran shelter, a rudimentary refuge. When they failed to reach it, the group became stranded in the open for two nights in a blizzard. Five youths and the leader's assistant died of exposure. A sixth student and the group's leader survived the ordeal with severe hypothermia and frostbite. The tragedy is regarded as Britain's worst mountaineering accident.

A fatal accident inquiry led to formal requirements being placed on leaders for school expeditions. After acrimony in political, mountaineering and police circles, the Curran shelter was demolished in 1975.

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