Walkers trapped in bothy by deep snow in Cairngorms

Braemar MRT members headed for the bothy in an off-road ambulance

Two men on a walking trip in the Cairngorms found themselves stuck in a bothy after encountering thigh-deep drifts of snow.

The pair had tried to reach where their car was parked, but were forced to seek shelter after managing to walk less than a mile in almost four hours.

Rescuers said the men made the correct decision to return to the Findouran bothy where they had been staying.

A Coastguard helicopter flew the walkers to safety on Thursday.

Cairngorm and Braemar mountain rescue teams had set out to reach the men that day before the weather conditions improved enough to allow Inverness Coastguard helicopter to reach the bothy.

Cairngorm MRT said the two hillwalkers had woken up in Findouran bothy on Wednesday to find thigh-deep snow outside.

After taking three hours and 30 minutes to cover less than a mile in an effort to reach their car, the rescue team said the walkers "quite rightly" turned back to spend another night at the bothy.

Cairngorm MRT said the snow was so deep the men would not have made it out even on Thursday.

The team thanked the Coastguard for its assistance.

This week has seen some heavy snowfalls over Scotland's mountains.

On Wednesday, staff at the Cairngorm Mountain snowsports centre, near Aviemore, said more than 40cm (16in) had fallen at its base station, which is 630m (2,066ft) above sea level.

Heavy snowfalls and high winds created large areas of thigh-deep snow