A group of Irish walkers didn't notice that one of them was missing after descending from the 3,560ft summit of Snowdon, Wales in snow and ice conditions.
It was only when they returned to their cars in Llanberis Pass last March they realised that 61-year-old Donal McGrath wasn't with them.
At an inquest at Caernarfon, coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones last night recorded a verdict of accidental death on Mr McGrath, of Knockeen, Butlerstown, Co Waterford, who had mountaineering experience on Everest, the Alps and in Argentina. He was a retired bricklaying instructor.
The coroner said it was just unfortunate that during a 600ft slide he had struck his head on a boulder, and this had probably killed him instantly. "He was a very experienced person with the best equipment," commented the coroner. The inquest heard that a group from the Comeragh mountaineering club, Waterford, had reached a fingerstone by the Pyg Track on the way down and thought Mr McGrath was walking ahead.
One of the party, Máire Keenleyside, of Dunmore East, said a group of 25 had gone to north Wales. She agreed that there was no leader and no back-marker for the trek by 15 of them on Snowdon but they were well experienced and five or six had maps or compasses.
Frank Tritschler of Ballymaclude, Grantstown, Waterford, said Mr McGrath was standing beside him by the fingerstone, wearing crampons. Mr McGrath went ahead. "There was a severe blast of wind and snow came up and hit me in the face," he recalled. "I covered my face and turned my back." He'd thought he'd seen someone slip and at the time believed it was Máire Keenleyside, who he then saw standing up. "But with the benefit of hindsight I think it might have been Donal," he told the coroner.
Det Const Tim Bird, a mountain expert, told Mr McGrath's daughter Róisín McGrath, Ballyhooly Road, Cork, who questioned all the witnesses closely: "It's unfortunate he wasn't missed. But I can understand how he had been missed in the prevailing conditions." The coroner said he believed Mr McGrath had been hit by a gust of wind, lost his balance and began to slide down the slope.
After the inquest Ms McGrath said: "I blame no one for the accident. But there should have been an official leader and my father should have been missed a lot sooner."