The party were descending from the summit when the man fell

Matthew Aaron Watkins, 29 from Erdington, Birmingham, was in a party of four and is believed to have slipped on moss when he mistakenly thought he was descending the Watkin Path.

The rest of the group became separated and three mountain rescue teams and an RAF helicopter crew were involved in a seven-hour operation.

Poor visibility and low cloud hampered the search.

One man, who had first alerted North Wales Police via his mobile phone, made it back to the summit and was met by rescuers around 2000 BST.

Two of his friends tried to climb down after the man who had fallen. They were later rescued from the rock face by the mountain rescue teams and taken to their base.

Mr Watkins was airlifted to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor where he was pronounced dead. North Wales Police said his relatives had been informed.

The search started on the Watkin Path by Llanberis mountain rescue team, who were later joined by members of the Ogwen Valley and RAF Valley teams.

Call-outs

The climbing party were believed to be about 1,400 ft away from the summit when the alert was raised at about 1430 BST. All the group were located by 2130 BST.

Ian Henderson, of the Llanberis rescue team, said: "The four men made it to the summit and were descending. They went off the path in the cloud and one slipped and fell."