Climber dies in Mount Olympus fall

Police say a 59-year-old Greek man has died in an accident while climbing Mount Olympus, Greece's highest mountain.

The man was close to the 2,917-meter (9,570-feet) summit, when he slipped and dropped more than 200 meters (660 feet) into a ravine.

Authorities said there was intermittent fog high up the mountain.

Volunteers from the non-profit group Hellenic Rescue Team are trying to reach the body and bring it down the mountain.

Several paths of varying technical difficulty lead to the summit, and the man was reportedly on the easiest of the routes, called «Kakoskala» — «Evil Stairway» in Greek.

Fatal accidents on Mount Olympus occur almost every year. The worst was in December 1976 when an avalanche killed six Greek mountaineers.

[AP]