Scots mountaineers face polar bear threat while stranded on Greenland trip

The five climbers had planned to conquer previously-unscaled Arctic peaks in Greenland but were beaten back by flood waters.

However, when they returned to a river that had previously been navigable on foot, they were unable to cross because the stretch had become dangerously fast-flowing.

They then had to spend two days and nights on the river bank in an area known to be populated with polar bears.

With food supplies running low and unable to make contact with rescuers, a member of the team attempting to make the crossing was swept away, though he later managed to scramble to the bank.

They were only all rescued when a helicopter taking geologists into Greenland's remote interior flew over their location by chance. They alerted the pilot by firing a gun they had brought to protect against polar bear attack.

After they were picked up, the team saw a group of bears only six miles away from where they had camped.

Details of the trip have emerged following the fatal polar bear mauling of a British schoolboy on Friday on an Arctic island north of the Norwegian mainland.

Horatio Chapple, 17, was part of a British Schools Exploring Society expedition which encountered the bear. Four other people seriously injured in the attack are recovering in hospital.

Colwyn Jones, the leader of the Scottish Mountaineering Club team, said he and his four colleagues had spent two years planning the trip to the Stauning Alps, in the North-east Greenland National Park.

They were dropped off on the Arctic tundra on 18 July and headed inland. After ten days attempting to reach the peaks they intended to climb they decided that it would be too dangerous to continue because of glacial floodwaters blocking their path.

However, the return to rendezvous with an aircraft also met with failure and they were forced to set up camp on a river bank with supplies dwindling.

"We crossed a few smaller rivers but couldn't get up to the area we planned to reach where there are virgin peaks still to be climbed," Jones said. "The conditions on the glaciers were atrocious, so reluctantly we had to retreat back to the coast. Again, our way was barred by meltwater.

"We had spent two years planning and organising the trip and suddenly it had all gone haywire. We certainly were not expecting to get trapped there."

They were unable to communicate with anyone as their handheld radio did not have the range to reach the coast and the battery on their satellite telephone had run flat.

"There wasn't any food left and we didn't know how long we were going to be stuck there for."The only things left were caramel wafers and logs and we were extremely grateful to have them," Jones recalled.

One of the team, Martin Fitzsimmons from East Kilbride, came close to being swept away when he tried to negotiate his way through the treacherous waterway.

"Martin made an attempt at crossing the river but got washed downstream," Jones said. "He had being trying to get across when he stumbled and suddenly disappeared under the water. Fortunately, he came up again soon afterwards and managed to get back up on his feet. He'd only been under for a few seconds, but his knees and hands were pretty badly cut up."

Jones, the 53-year-old leader and medical officer, believed further attempts to reach the other side could have ended in tragedy.

The hungry group were starting to grow increasingly worried when they sighted a helicopter in the distance.

Jones explained: "We fired the rifle, which we brought for protection from polar bears, to try to attract his attention and started waving a brightly-coloured flysheet from a tent. We also used a mirror to signal and, fortunately, he saw us.

"When he landed the Austrian pilot looked at us and said laconically: 'What's the problem, boys?'"

The helicopter was transporting a group of geologists, but the pilot agreed to return and airlift the stranded climbers to the safety and comfort of their camp near the Carlsberg Fjord.

Jones said they could barely believe their good fortune.

"It was purely by chance that the pilot happened to fly over the valley we were stuck in that day. It is fair to say we were all extremely pleased to see him."

The other members of the SMC team, which arrived safely back in the UK last week, were Graham Tough, 51, from Edinburgh, and Ron Kenyon, 60, and Eric McKenna-Parker, 49, who are based in Cumbria.

After they were rescued the group reflected on the potential dangers they had faced. Jones said: "We saw some polar bears on an ice flow when we getting taken back to the airstrip.

"They were less then 10km from where we'd been camping. It brought home to me that you are in constant danger of polar bear attacks when you are over there. It was fantastic to see them, but they are a genuine risk."