Ben Lui. Photo: Stuart Meldrum

A man has died in a fall from a Highland mountain.

Dr Tim Garn was climbing on Ben Lui last Sunday when he fell more than 90m (300ft) near the summit of the 1,130m (3,703ft) peak in Strathfillan near Tyndrum. His girlfriend and climbing partner used her mobile phone to call for help.

She was rescued from the summit by members of the Killin Mountain Rescue Team who then found Dr Garn’s body in a corrie on the mountain. The incident happened about 4pm last Sunday in weather conditions described by police as ‘atrocious’.

Dr Garn is believed to have suffered a head injury in the fall. He was taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary but pronounced dead.

The climber, 27, was a researcher in astrophysics at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. The observatory issued a statement following his death, saying: “It is with the greatest of sadness that we mourn the death of Timothy Garn, killed in a tragic accident whilst descending from Ben Lui on Sunday 17 January 2010.

“Tim was a postdoctoral researcher in extragalactic astrophysics. Born on 7th September 1982, he joined the Institute for Astronomy in September 2008, following an outstanding performance as an undergraduate and postgraduate at the University of Cambridge.

“He was a very talented young astrophysicist whose research career was blossoming quickly, and whose future was extremely bright. An enthusiastic and very likeable young man, Tim lived life to the full and enriched the lives of those around him. He will be sorely missed, as a colleague and a friend. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”

The mountain’s central gully in Coire Gaothaich provides classic winter climbing with a grade one winter route but is known to be prone to avalanching.