A FIRST-TIME climber last night described how he thought his friend had fallen to his death on a North Wales mountain. Deepak Kumar's trip to Snowdon almost ended in tragedy when his friend slipped 100ft down the mountainside in a blizzard. The pair only survived thanks to park warden Nikki Wallis, who heard their cries for help. The trio huddled alongside her dog Jakob inside an ice cave, while 55 rescuers searched for them. Deepak, 28, from London, initally thought Vikram Phukan, also 28, was dead. He said: "I looked around and saw Vikram had lost his balance and fallen. I saw him slipping behind and disappear. "I called 'Are you all right?' "I didn't think he was alive. Then he shouted back so I felt he was hanging on to something very close, about five metres from the end of the precipice." Deepak was very concerned for his injured friend and thought he would freeze. He said: "I tried to touch his leg. He was hurt and I couldn't get to him." Deepak, who is originally from India, tried to phone for help. He said: "We didn't know the police number. "We then tried different numbers. We didn't know it was 999." Software consultant Deepak said: "We feel we are really lucky that Nikki found us. "We were desperate. We have been through hell. I said some prayers. "Vikram had been climbing before. For me, it was the first time. "He did tell me to bring boots but I didn't have any so I wore trainers. "It was extremely windy. The weather started becoming bad. "We felt we had done the difficult part but after that th ere was an oth er mountain." After they climbed the treacherous Crib Goch and Crib y Ddysgl, they lost their rucksack, which only contained some biscuits. They had failed to take torches, maps, or any first aid equip-ment regarded as essential. After the fall, at about 1.30pm, the pair shouted for help, and were answered by Nikki. A very relieved Deepak, who had slid to join his friend, said: "Suddenly I saw the dog." Nikki radioed to her National Park colleagues and rescue teams. But because of the blizzard weather conditions, an RAF rescue helicopter and crew had to turn back. They dropped off 10 members of Llanberis mountain rescue team near Llyn Llydaw, but they could not reach Nikki and the two casualties. Llanberis team leader Aled Taylor called for help from neighbouring Ogwen Valley and Aberglaslyn teams. At one time, there were 55 rescuer s ou t on the mountain. The injured climber was strapped to a stretcher and lowered 600ft. Deepak, although starting to suffer from hypothermia, was able to walk. Deepak said: "I would say we were foolish in not equipping ourselves properly and just going for the adventure." | 
