Dad WhatsApped wife to say he'd done Eryri peak before climb ended tragically

A newly-retired housing trust manager died in a fall on an Eryri (Snowdonia) peak – his body not being spotted for several months, an inquest heard today. North West Wales senior coroner Kate Robertson at Caernarfon said the death of experienced walker David Brookfield, 65, on Pen yr Ole Wen, Carneddau, was a “tragic accident.”

Mr Brookfield had been walking in January and there were probably some slippery conditions, the coroner said. Mountain rescuers, a coastguard helicopter, drones and dogs had searched for Mr Brookfield, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, after he was reported missing. On May 9, a coastguard helicopter crew in the Nant Ffrancon valley and spotted Mr Brookfield's blue jacket.

Paul Terry, a police sergeant and Ogwen Valley mountain rescuer, said Pen Yr Ole Wen had "navigational challenges in poor visibility". He suggested Mr Brookfield had deviated from a normal descent route and entered a gully before falling.

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On January 9 Mr Brookfield, a former logistics manager, had messaged his wife Lesley for the last time on WhatsApp to report that he’d climbed his first Eryri mountain.

The alarm was raised the next day when there was no more contact. “As a family we are utterly devastated as to what has happened,” Mrs Brookfield said in a statement read at the inquest.

The coroner told the family: "I can’t begin to imagine the pain and anguish, perhaps even the grief, you felt for many months.” She added: "He had many years still ahead of him clearly."

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