Climber Survives 1,000-Foot Fall

After Adam Potter lost his footing and fell 1,000 feet down one of the steepest mountain ridges in the Scottish Highlands, rescuers expected to find a corpse. Instead, they found the 36-year-old Scotsman standing up and looking at a map. Potter, who tumbled over three cliffs on the way down before he was stopped by a boulder, survived with back injuries, cuts to his face, and whiplash. Rescue workers believe snow helped cushion his fall.

"I was lucky to survive one cliff, let alone all three," Potter tells the Guardian. "I don't remember the first two cliffs; I remember the last and I could see what was coming and at that point, I thought it was the end." The fall—described by rescue workers as one of the most extreme they have ever seen—hasn't put him off climbing: he plans to set off on an expedition to Mount Everest in the spring. "I'm hoping my injuries will have healed by then," he says. (More mountain stories.)