Jane Doole died when she was hit by a rockfall in Coire an t-Sneachda. Photo: Richard Webb CC-BY-SA-2.0

Police have named the climber who died when she was hit by a rockfall in a Cairngorms corrie.

Jane Doole, 61, of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, was climbing with a friend near the Pygmy Ridge in Coire an t-Sneachda on 2 September when she was caught in a rockfall.

Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team members went to the site and a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet in Ayrshire also flew to the scene in the Northern Corries.

Ms Doole could not be resuscitated despite the efforts of climbers in the area and rescuers.

Following her death, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland said it had serious concerns about the state of the cliffs in the popular climbing area.

It said: “There was a fatality in the Aladdin’s Buttress area of the cliffs in Coire an t-Sneachda, after a climber was hit by rockfall from above. And earlier in August, considerable rockfall was noted in the area above the Goat Track, in the same corrie.

The council’s temporary mountain safety adviser Monty Monteith said: “This is particularly worrying as we move into winter over the next two months.

“Experienced climbers and mountaineers are very aware of the fragile nature of our mountains, which are in a constant state of decay. However, the heavy snows of last winter seem to have destabilised the cliffs and their surroundings even more.

“Once the first snows of this winter fall and temperatures plummet, the situation will be made even worse as successive freezes and thaws dislodge even more debris. This of course will be exactly the time when the first winter climbers take to the crags seeking adventure.

“Rockfall is sometimes considered an objective danger, but let’s take heed of all available information and plan accordingly when heading out to seek the challenge of winter – especially in the last few months of 2014, before the snow and deep cold has cemented the loose rock under its frozen cocoon.”