Marlborough dad killed by avalanche on Ben Nevis

Mr Rosedale, 37, lived in George Lane with his wife Ulrika and their two children, Ted, three, and Svea, 12 months.

His parents are former Marlborough GP Dr Barney Rosedale and his wife Rachel who live in Kingsbury Street.

Mr Rosedale worked as head of outside activities at Marlborough College and he was a former student at St John’s School in Marlborough.

He and his family spent Christmas in Marlborough with his parents and his father said: “We had a wonderful Christmas together.”

He followed in the footsteps of his father who has been a climber and mountaineer all his life. Dr Rosedale was the official doctor accompanying the 1972 Everest climb team.

Dr Rosedale said his son had been climbing since he was about ten and at 13 had accompanied his father on a climb in the Himalayas.

“He died doing exactly what he loved doing,” said Dr Rosedale. This was the risk he was prepared to take because it was what he loved doing.”

Mr Rosedale was training to be a mountain guide and had already bought a house at Chamonix in the Swiss Alps in preparation for completing his training in about two years time.

His father said: “Rupert was a hugely experienced climber, a very good and safe climber.”

Mr Rosedale and two colleagues went to Ben Nevis on Tuesday and had a successful day’s climbing on the same slopes as an RAF team. They resumed their climb yesterday (Wednesday) and at about 11am were caught up in a huge and unpredictable avalanche of snow that swept them down the mountainside.

The only one of the trio to survive was Mark Walker who lives in Wales and he raised the alarm.

The name of the other person who died is not known to Dr Rosedale and has not been released by Scottish police.

This was the second tragedy to strike members of the Marlborough Medical Practice and involving one of their children.

In January 2004 Annabel Maurice 18, daughter of Dr David Maurice and his wife, also called Rachel, was killed in a head-on crash on the Beckhampton-Devizes road near Shepherds Shore.

Annabel who had been a student at Dauntsey’s School at West Lavington was spending part of her gap year before going to university working as a carer at Brendoncare residential home at Froxfield.

St John’s School teacher Steve Tapper said: “Rupert was delightful to teach, he was such a mature, friendly and pleasant lad.

“He was a joy to be around, a lovely young man full of talent and vitality.

“I remember him as being a kind of action man and everything he did was outward bound."

The fatalities came as forecasters predicted a chilly night tonight for New Year's Eve revellers with temperatures at midnight likely to dip below zero in many areas. The death last night of a climber who was rescued from a mountainside after an avalanche brought the number of lives claimed by the freezing weather to six in the last 24 hours.

Earlier two other climbers died after a separate avalanche on Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis. Police said the avalanche in the Coire na Ciste area of Ben Nevis was several hundred metres in length. The latest man to die was swept away in Torridon, Wester Ross. The 54-year-old was found alive and conscious at Liathach Ridge by rescuers, but it is thought he died after being taken to hospital.

Two other climbers were rescued after a third avalanche on Beinn an Dothaidh near Bridge of Orchy in Argyll at around midday. After another avalanche, a rescue was launched in Torridon when a climber called emergency services to report that the friend he was with had been swept away. The alarm was raised in Torridon shortly before noon, just an hour after the avalanche at Ben Nevis. Rescuers found the man conscious but cold with an injured arm and he was flown to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter.

The avalanches all took place within a matter of hours and followed a warning from experts. The calm but cold weather increases the likelihood of avalanches because of the build-up of surface frost.