Climber tells of friend's death fall

A climber told yesterday of seeing his companion fall to his death in a crevasse on Mont Blanc. Stuart Rand, 27, and Trevor Hadrell, 47, were climbing the mountain when Mr Hadrell stepped on snow which covered a crevasse.

Mr Rand, who was yesterday in hospital in Chamonix, was dragged by their connecting rope. "I tried to break his fall ... but I couldn't. I managed to get a knife into the ground to stop myself falling. But then the rope went slack as Trevor must have landed at the bottom ... I just feel numb. I suppose I was lucky but I certainly don't feel lucky. We weren't doing anything we hadn't done before. It was just one of those terrible accidents you can't explain." Mr Rand was not injured, although he had frostbite in his fingers.