Frank Duncan slipped 300ft from the mountain

Frank Duncan, 43, died after falling near the summit of Ben Alder, in the Cairngorms, in "atrocious" weather conditions on Saturday.

The benefits worker, from Aberdeen, had taken to the hills with two others to climb the remote Inverness-shire peak.

His sister Mary McMillan, 60, said Mr Duncan was "very careful and would not have taken risks".

She said: "He loved walking and was very experienced.

"He had climbed over 100 munros and hoped to finish them all.

"He was never reckless and never went walking in bad weather. His friends must feel awful."

There are a number of places where the path is very, very close to the edge of the cliff face Terry Confield Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team

His other sister, Doreen Davidson, 55, said: "We knew he was up Ben Alder, but like always, he had planned his whole trip out meticulously.

"When we heard someone had died, we hoped it wasn't him.

"He was terrified of heights."

Mr Duncan's two companions, who raised the alarm at about 1720 BST, were escorted off the mountain suffering from exhaustion.

Terry Confield, leader of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, said: "We asked the man's companions to return to the top of Ben Alder so we could keep in touch with them through their phone.

"Also, given the experience they had just been through, it would probably not have been a good idea for them to return from the mountain alone."

Adverse weather

The accident happened on the descent path of the mountain's south east ridge.

"There are a number of places where the path is very, very close to the edge of the cliff face," Mr Confield added.

"This was a very unfortunate accident. The path was too close to the edge of the ridge and the walker went over the edge."

Rescue teams found Mr Duncan at about 2130 BST.

Adverse weather prevented his companions from being airlifted by RAF helicopter.