A climber who fell 1,000ft (305m) down a mountain and survived was found by his rescuers standing up reading a map.

The 35-year-old lost his footing at the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor near Ben Nevis in the Highlands and plummeted down the near-vertical eastern slope.

Lt Tim Barker, from the helicopter rescue crew, said: "It seemed impossible... he must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell."

He added that the climber was shaking from "extreme emotional shock".

Lt Barker, the Royal Navy's Sea King helicopter crew's observer, said: "We began to hover-taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up.

"We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops.

"It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall.

Not very good at reading a map though.