Climbing a mountain? The real danger starts when you get to the top

Summiting a mountain may sound like the daunting prospect, but the real danger lies in coming back down again, a new study shows.

While hikers may feel they have conquered the hardest part after reaching the peak, in fact 75 per cent of falls occur on the road home.

A mix of loose gravel, uneven ground, exhaustion and the physical exertion of walking downhill all combine to make the descent a more treacherous journey than the climb.

Falls account for around half of all hiking accidents, but the University of Innsbruck in Austria has been investigating what triggers the slip, trip or stumble.

Dr Martin Faulhaber and his team analysed the causes of 5,638, falls reported to the Austrian Alpine Police over the past nine years.