A MAN watched helplessly as his best friend slipped 100ft down a Snowdonia mountain to his death.

Colin Blundell, 25, of Longfield Avenue, Upton, died of head injuries after falling during a walking expedition on Sunday.

Dan Pelissier held his friend's hand until a rescue helicopter could winch him to hospital.

The pair had been inseparable since they met at Upton High School aged 11.

Dan, also 25 and originally from Westminster Park, Chester, said his friend was in good spirits.

It is thought a heart condition may have caused him to faint and lose his balance at the top of a slope on Glyder Fach in the Ogwen Valley near Bethesda.

Dan said: 'He just slipped and didn't stop slipping. The slope was quite steep but if he had been conscious he could have slowed himself down. He had completely blacked out.'

Dan scrambled down the slope to find Colin unconscious.

He said: 'I was with him until the helicopter came, just talking to him and squeezing his hand - he didn't once squeeze my hand back.

'There were no groans of dis-comfort or crying or anything. He was just breathing - he was comfortable.'

Colin died at 2.40pm in Bangor hospital, after being winched from the mountain by a rescue helicopter from RAF Valley at around 1pm.