A 28-year-old British mountaineer has died after falling roughly 61 metres (200ft) while descending from the summit of a mountain in northern Spain, according to local law enforcement - a reminder that the descent, statistically the part where things go wrong, does not care that you already made it to the top.

The climber fell down a vertical gully on the east side of Torrecerredo, the highest peak of the Cantabrian mountains, on Thursday afternoon, the Spanish Civil Guard for the Asturias region said.

Rescuers located the man's remains after a helicopter crew flew over the area, the Civil Guard said. Two specialists were lowered to retrieve his body along with his belongings, which had been scattered during the fall - because gravity, having made its point, apparently felt no need to be tidy about it.

The incident occurred during the descent, about 20 metres below the Torrecerredo peak, the Civil Guard said.

The mountaineer's body was transported to La Morgal, a regional sports and aviation facility in Llanera near the Asturian city of Gijon.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said it had contacted local authorities about the death.

Torrecerredo, which has an elevation of about 2,649 metres, is the highest peak of the Picos de Europa mountain range, part of the larger Cantabrian Mountains range. It remains, as ever, exactly where it was.