A climber has died in an accident on a mountain in the Highlands. Mountain rescue teams were called at about 1655 GMT after a report of a fall in an area known as the Lost Valley in the Three Sisters Gully in Glencoe. One climber, who has not been identified, sustained fatal injuries and a man was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William for treatment. Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and police were called to the scene to help with the rescue.

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Recent heavy rain in the Highlands has fallen as snow on high ground meaning Scotland’s most popular ski area – CairnGorm Mountain – has opened for limited skiing and boarding this weekend.

So far Cairngorm is the only one of the country’s five ski centres to open for the 2009–10 season but it’s still a promisingly early start. Last winter The Lecht opened for Halloween and intermittently through November.

Struggling Glencoe Ski Centre is now expected to open for the winter season following the completion of the sale. Falkirk businessman Andy Meldrum confirmed that he had bought the resort from David Campbell, who owned it for five years.

Mr Meldrum, who describes himself as a ’snow nut’, said he would be opening the White Corries centre for winter sports and had plans to make the resort a year-round attraction.

However, he admitted he had an ’uphill task’ ahead of him. The ski centre has endured tough times in recent years. Poor snowfall six years ago led to its worst season on record.

A questionmark was hanging over the future of Scotland’s oldest ski resort last night after it emerged it may not open for winter.

The operator of Glencoe Mountain has failed to sell the White Corries centre or attract new investors after putting it on the market in March. Company chairman David Campbell said yesterday that unless a volunteer board of ski-ing enthusiasts was formed to operate the resort, it may not open this winter.

The plight of the business, 30 miles south of Fort Will-iam, prompted Mr Campbell to urge the Scottish Government to do more to help the snow sports industry.

The UK’s first red graded cross country downhill mountain bike trail that can only be accessed by a gondola has been officially opened. Three miles long, the single track route took more than a year to build on Aonach Mor mountain, near Fort William.