New report blasts climb which led to Amy's death

"If the nature of the route had been known beforehand, then the ascent would never have taken place," according to a report commissioned by Buckinghamshire County Council.

Amy, 17, of Hughenden Valley, was in a team of girls from Wycombe High School on a three-week trek to Vietnam, organised by World Challenge Expeditions (WCE), when she fell to her death shortly after the team leader decided to abort the climb up the 10,000ft Mount Fansipan.

The report does not blame anyone but it does say that the girls, their teacher and the WCE leader, who had no maps or written description of the routes, did not know enough about what lay ahead of them on the mountain.

This new report raises again the problems of adventure challenges which have been popular with schools in Buckinghamshire for several years.

Marion Clayton, the county council cabinet member for schools, said she felt it would be a pity if adventure trips were banned.

"Trips are getting much more adventurous, but because they are, we need to clarify where rules and responsibilities lie," she said.

She added that some decisions could only be taken on the day by people who were on the scene but the county council needed to make sure unnecessary risk had been eliminated.

She said: "My top priority is to make sure there are as few areas of risk as possible, though you can't eliminate it. The point of these young people going is that they want to do something exciting and possibly a bit dangerous, but we have to be careful.

"I don't think I want these trips banned. I would be quite sad if young people could not do risky and exciting things."

But Amy's father, Derek Ransom, told the Free Press there had been a lack of guidance, a lack of appreciation of what the girls were getting into and lack of risk assessment by WCE.

Where a new route was being undertaken, or where there had been a problem with a route, someone competent should assess all the tracks so they knew the ones where they would have difficulties, he said.

With proper risk assessment the team would not have been in a position to have had to turn back.

He added: "I want to hear them say they will change their practice and do a better quality risk assessment."

Wycombe High School girls are already starting preparations for another expedition in a year's time.

Acting headteacher Andrew MacTavish, who has decades of outdoor challenge experience, is a strong believer in what these trips can do for students.

He described WCE as an extremely efficient organisation and said when he was head at John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe, the boys went on several trips with the company.

"It is a wonderful experience," he added.

The students learned team work and organisational skills as they planned the trip and took responsibility when abroad for booking accommodation, deciding routes and buying food.

At Aylesbury High School the girls have also used WCE three times and are planning a big trip next year.

Headteacher Jane Wainwright said: "We have been extremely pleased with the expeditions and we have had nothing but praise and gratitude from the students and their parents."

But she said: "The county council is about to issue new guidelines in the light of the tragedy and we shall consider it carefully.

"As head I am aware of the fact that accidents may happen but we try to make sure that every risk is catered for.

"If we have concerns we won't go ahead, because our first priority must be safety."

Chris Gallant, of WCE, said: "There is always an element of risk, but that is part of the challenge. Students learn from the challenge and from the risk."

He said most WCE trips were to the developing world and added: "It means leaving the comfort zone behind and being challenged emotionally and physically. You are taken out of the language and culture of the UK.

"Bucks [County Council] is saying every path has to be trodden before, but this is not possible."

He said if the leader had known every track, it would have been against the developmental process.

He added: "We wouldn't have said the trip up the mountain should not have been attempted."

The route up Fansipan was described in the county report as steeper, narrower and more exposed than the girls had previously encountered. And a report produced for WCE by Air Vice-Marshal Peter Millar after the tragedy also indicated that the route was difficult and that some of the girls were becoming uneasy at what they faced.

The team had a guide chosen by two of the students. But the county council report says the guide had limited English and was unregistered and that the WCE leader did not meet him until the morning of the trip.

The report states "the lack of information was the principle cause for the team being on a trek beyond their capability and out of the range of the usual level of WCE treks".

Conditions on the mountain were atrocious according to the leader of a team from Banbury School who the High Wycombe team met on the first afternoon of the climb, but who had turned back. The Wycombe High girls continued to the first camp and set off again the following morning. At mid morning the team leader called a halt because things were getting very difficult and decided to turn back. The girls had to negotiate a 6ft step down along the path. Amy lost her hold on a tree and fell down the slope and into a gorge.

An inquest in December returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Gallant said: "The fact that it was an accident doesn't mean they should not have been on the trek in the first place."

The county council was not justified in saying the trek should not have happened.

He added: "The leader realised that the route was getting progressively difficult and he decided that the team was not strong enough or fit enough to continue. He decided to go back."

On the question of the Vietnamese guide, he said the leader was responsible for the students, not the guide, who was there to provide local knowledge.

He said: "The company is responsible if at the end of the day we are negligent."

WCE has been going for 15 years and last year took 50,000 students on challenge trips. The trip to Vietnam by the Wycombe High School girls was backed by the governors in March 2000, so that the girls could start preparing and raising money. Application was made in May 2001 to the county council which countersigned the approval form.

The county review says trips of this type to third world countries should not take place if there are no proper maps, weather forecasts, qualified guides or qualified back up team leader.

A revised county policy is being drawn up. It will need to be supported by a major programme of training for staff and governors, says the report.