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 A woman fell to her death as she and her husband used a smartphone app to find a safe way down from a peak in Snowdonia, an inquest heard. 
 
 Experienced climbers Jane and Gary Wilson, from Stockport , decided against going to the summit of Tryfan as dusk was approaching. 
 
 Using only Mr Wilson’s phone to find a route down, they headed across the mountain’s west face, known for its loose rocks and steep inclines. 
 
 In a statement, Mr Wilson described what unfolded at the inquest of his wife in Ruthin by John Gittins, the coroner for North Wales East and Central. 
 
 He said Jane, 53, an academic engagement librarian at the University of Manchester who was also known as Jane Marshall, went a short distance ahead of him to look for a suitable route and he asked her if it was safe. 
 
 “I asked ‘Is it OK? Is it safe?’ and we said we would only go if we both agreed,” he said. 
 
 Mr Wilson then heard a kind of exclamation, then another, followed by the sound of a rock fall. 
 
 Realising his wife had fallen and that, with limited first-aid knowledge he was unlikely to be able to help her, he climbed to a safer ledge and raised the alarm. 
 
 “I didn’t go down in case I was also injured or killed,” he said. 
 
 Mr Wilson was eventually led to safety by members of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team who found his wife’s body over 150 metres lower down. She had fractured her skull and sustained several other severe injuries. 
 
 Detective Constable Tim Bird, the leader of the rescue team, told the inquest that Mrs Wilson, had apparently fallen 20-30 feet down a vertical cliff, then tumbled about 150 metres down into an area known as Notch arrete. 
 
 He said that although the weather was dry, the light boots worn by Mrs Wilson were not suitable for such rough terrain and she could have slipped. 
 
 After abseiling two days later down to the spot where her body was found he himself was hit by falling rocks. 
 
 DC Bird told the hearing: “The change in route was an attempt to traverse the west face to avoid the summit. It would have been better to have retreated the way they had come or gone to the North Ridge, but unfortunately they probably saw a footpath and joined up the dots.” 
 
 He said that there would not have been as much detail on the smartphone app as on a normal map. 
 
 The inquest heard that Mrs Wilson, of St Alban’s Avenue in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, was a fit and active woman and she and her husband had been mountain walking and scrambling for six years. She had run in the New York Marathon and Great North Run. 
 
 The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death. ||||| “Due to the nature of mobile devices when navigating the real world, we will continue to encourage our customers to carry a paper version of the place they are exploring.” 
 
 Chris Lloyd, who was among the Ogwen Rescue team which responded to the call, described the route the pair had taken as “not a straightforward path”. 
 
 He said: “There are some tricky little rock steps, particularly at the top end.” 
 
 Mr Lloyd added that Tryfan is responsible for “about 30 per cent” of the incidents the Ogwen Rescue team had to attend. 
 
 "Anyone climbing the North Ridge for their first time might well be advised to go with someone who has experienced the North Ridge before,” he said. 
 
 “It is a superb scramble but can easily be hazardous to the unwary.” 
 
 Today, Andy Simpson, a spokesman for Mountain Rescue England and Wales also urged walkers to use a map and compass in addition to electronic navigation aids. 
 
 He said: “Mountain Rescue would always advocate using a map and compass to navigate, either instead of or in addition to any electronic navigation aids. Apart from potential difficulties caused by poor detail on an electronic map, batteries on mobile phones have a nasty habit of running out just when you need them most." 
 
 Speaking at the inquest, Detective Constable Tim Bird, the leader of the rescue team, said Mr Wilson had been using an Ordnance Survey app on his smartphone. 
 
 He said: “The image would have been small and not as detailed as on a proper map. There is no easy way up Tryfan but there are easier routes.” 
 
 Detective Bird said Mrs Wilson had fallen 20-30ft down a vertical cliff, then tumbled about 150 metres down into an area known as Notch arrete. 
 
 He said that although the weather was dry, the light boots worn by Mrs Wilson were not suitable for such rough terrain and she could have slipped. 
 
 After abseiling two days later down to the spot where her body was found, he said he was hit by falling rocks. 
 
 DC Bird told the hearing: “The change in route was an attempt to traverse the west face to avoid the summit. It would have been better to have retreated the way they had come or gone to the North Ridge, but unfortunately they probably saw a footpath and joined up the dots.” 
 
 The inquest was told Mrs Wilson was a fit and active woman and that she and her husband had been mountain walking and scrambling for six years. 
 
 The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death. ||||| Image copyright Google Image caption Jane Wilson fell and died while heading across Tryfan's west face 
 
 An experienced mountain walker fell to her death while looking for a safe route off Snowdonia's Tryfan peak, an inquest has heard. 
 
 Jane Wilson and her husband Gary, of Stockport, decided not to go to the summit during the walk on March 25. 
 
 Instead, using Mr Wilson's smartphone to guide them, they headed across the mountain's west face but Mrs Wilson fell 30ft (9m) down a vertical cliff. 
 
 The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death. 
 
 The hearing was told Mrs Wilson, a librarian at Manchester University, fractured her skull and sustained other severe injuries in the fall. 
 
 In a statement to John Gittins, the coroner for north Wales east and central, Mr Wilson said his wife went a short distance ahead of him to look for a suitable route. 
 
 "I asked 'Is it OK? Is it safe?' and we said we would only go if we both agreed," he said. 
 
 Raised the alarm 
 
 Realising his wife had fallen, he climbed to a safer ledge and raised the alarm. 
 
 Mr Wilson was led to safety by members of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team, who found his wife's body. 
 
 Det Con Tim Bird, the leader of the rescue team, told the inquest: "The change in route was an attempt to traverse the west face to avoid the summit. 
 
 "It would have been better to have retreated the way they had come or gone to the north ridge, but unfortunately they probably saw a footpath and joined up the dots." 
 
 The inquest was told Mrs Wilson was a fit and active woman and that she and her husband had been mountain walking and scrambling for six years.
– A hiker's fatal fall in March has been blamed on using a smartphone app map instead of an actual map. The BBC reports Jane Wilson and her husband Gary were hiking on Tryfan in Wales when it started to get dark and they decided to skip the summit. While attempting to descend the mountain, Gary was looking at an Ordnance Survey app while Jane went a short way ahead to make sure the path was safe, according to the Telegraph. The Manchester Evening News reports Gary heard his wife fall, got to safety, and called for help. Rescuers found the 53-year-old librarian's body at the bottom of a 30-foot cliff with a fractured skull. At a hearing Friday, Jane's was ruled an accidental death due, in part, to using an app instead of a map. "Apart from potential difficulties caused by poor detail on an electronic map, batteries on mobile phones have a nasty habit of running out just when you need them most," the Telegraph quotes a spokesperson for Mountain Rescue England and Wales as saying. A detective says the app map "would have been small and not as detailed" and took the couple on a route that was not the safest. A director with Ordnance Survey says hikers should always use the app in conjunction with an actual map "due to the nature of mobile devices when navigating the real world." Authorities also say Jane wasn't wearing appropriate footwear for the hike. (Go inside the futile search for "Inchworm" on the trail.)