Mountaineering Norwood pupils could not understand what all the fuss was about when they walked into their hostel after descending the highest mountain in Britain.

Telephones were ringing incessantly as friends and relatives checked to make sure they were safe.

What the climbers from St Joseph's College, West Norwood, did not know was that national and international news was breaking of an avalanche on the same mountain they had been on - Ben Nevis in the Highlands of Scotland.

The avalanche just after Christmas killed four Venture scout leaders - one, Matthew Lewis, worked in Croydon. Two others were buried for hours in freezing conditions.

Pupil Simon Beston said: "We knew nothing about it until we were back in the hostel and were being bombarded with phone calls by worried parents. My parents - in a state of absolute panic - rang the school, rang the hostel, and even rang my music teacher."

The panic even spread round the globe as Mrs Allen, the elderly mother of the teacher leading the expedition, anxiously read the news in the Australian press.

Maths teacher Russell Allen, who organised the party of four adults and eight pupils, told the Guardian: "Our route was perfectly safe. The accident happened on the far side of Ben Nevis. Where we were was avalanche free but if we had gone up to the ridge there would have been a risk."

The intrepid mountaineers are planning to tackle the Alps in July and are already in training for the snow and ice work.

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