Photographer 'lucky to be alive' after Peak District fall

A photographer said he is lucky to be alive after falling down the side of a hill in the Peak District.

Wesley Chambers was taking shots of the snowy scenes along Winnats Pass on Thursday when he slipped and fell.

Fellow photographer Sam Walker spotted his tumble and came to his aid, as did Edale Mountain Rescue Team.

Mr Chambers - who suffered a sprained ankle but no serious injuries - thanked his rescuers for acting quickly to help him.

Winnats Pass is a scenic spot that lies near the village of Castleton, and according to the National Trust gets its name from being one of the windier entrances into the Hope Valley.

Mr Chambers said he was the first one up there that morning, and was "eager to shoot this location with the recent snow".

Wesley Chambers had been taking pictures of the heavy snow before his fall

Familiar with the treacherous conditions, he said it was "relatively calm" at first light, but 15 minutes later "a freak gust" took his camera and tripod over the steep, roughly 100m-high edge.

"This is where I went wrong," he wrote on Instagram.

"I started to work my way round the pinnacle I was stood on and to the flat part below where my camera had landed.

"I thought I could get to it easily. I don't know if it was the deep snow here making it look that way, but I lost my footing and went tumbling over the edge."

Despite their beauty the conditions can quickly became dangerous

Mr Chambers said he did not know how far he fell down the hill, but said it was "one of the scariest things I've ever experienced".

Feeling "dizzy and shaken", he decided not to risk trying to descend any further, at which point Mr Walker and the mountain rescue team came to his aid.

Winnats Pass is park of the Peak District and gets its name from its frequent windy weather