A CLIMBER and his girlfriend were found alive and well after spending a night in snow hole as a blizzard raged around them on a Scottish mountain.

Matthew Higginson, 23, of Crosshill Road, Blackburn, and Jessica Hopkins, 19, from Yorkshire, protected themselves from the sub zero temperatures by digging a snow hole and keeping warm inside a bivouac bag.

The pair, who are both studying at Glasgow University, had set out on Saturday to scale the 4,084 ft ice-covered cliffs of Coire an Lochan, in the Cairngorms, but were stranded in a snowstorm as darkness fell.

They decided to put safety first and stayed on the summit plateau until the blizzard subsided.

The Cairngorm Mountain Rescue team was called out at 11pm on Saturday after they were reported overdue, but were forced to call of the hunt because of blizzards six hours later. A large scale search involving sniffer dogs and their handlers, more than 40 rescue volunteers and two Sea King helicopters got under way first thing Sunday morning.

The climbers were spotted by a dog handler walking unaided off the mountain at around 10.20am.

Matthew is currently in his fourth year of a nursing degree and hopes to pursue a career in rescue services.

They had left details of their route on Caire an Lochan so the rescue services knew where to begin the search.

His parents David and Ann Higginson were informed of their son's disappearance on Sunday morning when they were contacted by Scottish police.

They learned that he had been found an hour later.

Mr Higginson said that Matthew had been a very keen rock climber since his days in the boy scouts and had introduced the sport to his other brothers and sisters, including eight-year-old twins Patrick and Ben.

"Matthew used to practice by sleeping outside in our garden in winter when he was only ten years old," he said.

His mother, Mrs Ann Higginson, added: "Matthew is a very keen rock climber and is always extremely careful and safety conscious."

John Allen, leader of the Cairngorm team praised the two climbers for taking appropriate action.

The family said they were extremely grateful to the rescue services in Scotland for their help and to the parishioners at Sacred Heart and St Anne's Church, Blackburn, for their prayers and support.

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