Welder fell to his death attempting notorious Snowdon Crib Goch walk

Kenneth Hands and three others had set out to climb the 3,560 feet peak when snow was forecast, the inquest at Caernarfon in Gwynedd heard.

Disaster struck after rapidly deteriorating weather forced the party to scrap their plan to get to the top along the narrow Crib Goch ridge walk that has been the scene of numerous tragedies and rescues.

Mr Hands, a 35-year-old welder from Aston Road, Tividale lost his footing as the predicted snow began to fall heavily and plunged down the rock face 'like a rag doll,' said a witness.

Mountain rescue teams said at the time that he fell a 'significant' distance.

The victim was quickly knocked unconscious after suffering a blow to the head almost immediately, explained friend and colleague Stuart Bailey.

He said the four-strong party had 'mixed results' for the weather forecast and when they arrived in Snowdonia the sun was shining and they could see the top of Crib Goch.

But the weather got worse and the snow began to fall before they had been able to tackle the worst parts of the ridge and the group decided to turn back as the snow started to stick, recalled Mr Bailey.

He was ahead of Mr Hands when he heard what he thought was a bag dropping. He went on: "When I turned around he was falling. He was unconscious and falling like a rag doll."

Snowdon veteran John Grisdale, of Llanberis mountain rescue team – Britain's busiest – said that Crib Goch was probably the most arduous ridge walk in England and Wales and required 'some respect.'

He confirmed that snow showers had been forecast for the day last April when Mr Hands died and stressed: "It does call for some experience to tackle it at any time but to do so in winter conditions puts an added edge to it."

The victim's body had been winched aboard a coastguard helicopter from Caernarfon. Mr Grisdale, whose team were also called out, concluded: "It seemed a very sad state of affairs. The weather turned very quickly."

Pathologist Dr Mark Lord said Mr Hands had suffered a major head injury.

Coroner Mrs Nicola Jones observed: "It seems he banged his head very quickly because he was unconscious almost within seconds. The walkers were probably in more danger than they thought." A verdict of accidental death was recorded.