Rescue teams took part in a near 12-hour operation to save a skier who had fallen 200 metres off a mountain.
The alarm was raised at 11.42am on Sunday about a male casualty who had suffered a number of serious injuries after falling near the summit of Aonach Beag in the western Highlands.
Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team was called to the scene, with 22 members joining the efforts in challenging conditions of strong winds and poor visibility.
A spokesman for the volunteers described the operation as “one of the most difficult and technical rescues” they have carried out over the last year.
Four team members scaled about 1000m before having to turn back when about 200m from the casualty because of “deep unstable” snow.
They then made use of new snow shoes to reclimb the mountain and reach the injured skier, who was then carried to a HM Coastguard helicopter.
A Police Scotland spokesman said the man was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William at 11.19pm before being transferred for treatment in Edinburgh.
He added the skier’s injuries were serious but not life-threatening.