A woman has survived a 1,300ft fall down a gully in the Scottish Highlands caused by her tripping over a piece of climbing equipment.

The woman, a member of the armed forces, was walking with a group of friends when she slipped and fell from Stob Coire nam Beath's Summit Gully at Glencoe.

She is being treated for serious head injuries at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital.

Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team leader John Grieve said the woman was lucky to be alive.

Organised course

"There have been a lot of fatalities at the Summit Gully and I've never seen anyone surviving such a big fall from there before," he said.

"She was very lucky to survive - however, she does have extensive injuries.

"She seemed to be on a organised course and she just tripped on a crampon. It's a recognised snow climb which is a grade one or a grade two.

"She hit rocks at the bottom but the slope was covered in snow which is probably what saved her."

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said the woman fell from the Summit Gully and her companions raised the alarm.

Helicopter scrambled

"Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and a search and rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth found her and she was taken to the Belford Hospital in Fort William with head injuries," the spokesman said.

"She was later transferred to the Southern General Hospital. She was a member of HM forces."