British climber was killed by avalanche in Norway

A British man was killed by an avalanche while scaling a frozen waterfall in Norway, a coroner said.

Henry Crosby was climbing Gaustatoppen mountain on 21 February when he died.

The 41-year-old from Saffron Walden was near the summit when he became "covered by falling snow", Essex Coroner's Court heard.

Area coroner Michelle Brown said Mr Crosby's provisional cause of death was from traumatic head injuries.

He had been with a friend, who was injured in the incident.

"This 41-year-old gentleman was on an ice climbing holiday in Norway," said Ms Brown, opening the inquest.

"He was near the summit of a mountain when an avalanche occurred; he was covered by falling snow."

The coroner said a full inquest would be heard at a later date.

Mr Crosby's friend has returned to the UK having overcome his injuries, the BBC understands.

Rescuers reportedly failed to recover Mr Crosby's body for several days due to poor weather conditions.

Efforts to save his friend were postponed several times due to the bleak weather conditions, Norway's NRK reported.

Gaustatoppen mountain is located in Norway's southern Telemark county.

A post-mortem examination of Mr Crosby in Oslo was unable to determine his cause of death, Ms Brown said.

However, his head trauma was confirmed during later reviews in Essex.

According to NRK, fire and police officers abseiled and used ropes to recover Mr Crosby's body on 25 February, as poor conditions meant it was not possible to use a helicopter.

"Prevailing weather conditions, avalanche danger and accessibility made it a very complicated and demanding task to get in and down to the climbers," local emergency manager Tor Einar Bakken told NRK in February.

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