'It has been an honour to be his dad': Barnsley father pays tribute to son who died in Snowdon fall

The father of a young climber who died falling from a mountain has described his son as a "hero" and said "it has been an honour to be his dad".

Jack Carne, 23, from south Yorkshire, was ascending Y Gribin on Snowdon, also known as Yr Wyddfa, on 4 February when a rock ledge he was using to pull himself up broke and he fell down the mountainside.

Mr Carne was scaling the rockface with two friends who were also injured and helped down the mountain by rescuers on Sunday.

In a post on Facebook, Mr Carne's father Richard said his son was "an amazing lad in every way".

"I just can't explain how much I love him and how proud I am of him," he said.

"He was my hero and he will be missed more than I can explain.

"It has been an honour to be his Dad. I wish I could find words to do him justice but I am at a loss."

Chris Lloyd, the chairman of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO), was part of the rescue effort and said the incident was a "tragic accident and very, very unfortunate".

Mr Lloyd told the PA news agency at the time: "He disappeared into the cloud below, falling a good distance down some very steep and nasty ground.

"His two colleagues saw him go so they tried to scramble to the edge to see where he had gone and climbed down quite a bit. It was becoming really difficult ground and they called for him but there was no response.

"It is just a tragic accident and very, very unfortunate. The lads have not done anything wrong. This rock just came away in his hand. It is just so sad."

A total of 12 OVMRO rescuers searched for Mr Carne's body, which was found in the darkness shortly after 9pm and recovered the next morning - due to adverse weather conditions.

Mr Lloyd added: "They were three young men. They have done a lot of hillwalking together and were well-equipped and had all the right kit.

"They were actually going to go and do some wild camping which is why they were so high so late.

"It is quite a popular ridge to go up and it has a little bit of a scramble towards the top so a lot of people walk up there," he continued.

"It is not difficult at all but there is loose rock up there, there's no doubt about that.

"There were definitely good patches of ice. It was just thin layers of it. You couldn't really see it and you couldn't tell whether it was wet rock or ice and it is easy to be caught out."

Devastated friends described Jack as a "true gentleman" and the "nicest lad you'll ever meet" while his girlfriend said on social media: "Soulmates for ever and ever and ever."

Y Gribin is a grade one ridge, meaning it is one of the least difficult.

OVMRO's volunteers are on standby 24 hours a day, all year round to attend mountaineering incidents in the Snowdonia National Park's Ogwen Valley.

The group was called out 178 times last year and depends almost entirely on public donations as funding.