A DAD-OF-TWO from the district had been making a second attempt to reach a mountain peak in the Russian Caucasus mountains when he fell to his "tragic and untimely" death, an inquest heard.

Experienced hiker John Stiles, 53, had been hampered by bad weather on a previous attempt to conquer the peak of Severny, which is 3,800m above sea level.

But some weeks later, on November 10, 2013, he had set off in clear skies to try once again.

It is thought he lost his footing and fell. He failed to turn up at an arranged pick-up point near the village of Fiagdon in North Ossetia six hours later. A mountain rescue search of the area was triggered, but efforts to find him were hampered by a snowfall and risk of avalanche.

Mr Stiles, of Ilkley, remained missing until his decomposed body was found under Severny by rescue workers on July 17, 2014 after the search had been resumed in better weather.

He was initially identified by his distinctive wedding ring, a Swiss army knife, watch and headtorch.

An x-ray of his remains in the UK also matched up meccano-like surgery he had received at St James' Hospital in Leeds in the 1990s on a fractured hip following an earlier accident.

A statement from Mrs Stiles, read out in court, described how her husband had been working in Grozny in Chechnya for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) but had been due to return to the UK to spend more time with his family and find new work - probably with a charity in London.

While in Chechnya he often spent weekends crossing the border into Russia to enjoy his passion for the outdoors, walking in the mountains. He had walked with a colleague in the past enjoying the company but after she left, had continued alone on his expeditions but always carefully planning his itinerary.

Mrs Stiles, of Skipton Road, said she trusted her husband's judgements in choosing his hiking routes and said: "He did not want to attempt anything mad or outside his abilities. He just wanted to explore. He was good at judging, I trusted him."

Two weeks before he went missing, he sent a text to his daughter Poppy, then 12, telling her he had not managed a hike to Severny because of the weather, but would try again, the inquest heard. He had been keen to get active after a summer where he had not exercised much, looking after Poppy who had been ill while his wife had a needed break, the inquest was told.

Post mortem tests determined the severity of Mr Stiles' injuries, including blunt trauma to his head, which meant his death would have happened quickly. Russian police ruled out any suspicious circumstances - Mr Stiles had been a diplomatic, calm, kind and respected man with no enemies.

Summing up that it was accidental death, Coroner Martin Fleming said: "It certainly was not in his character to take any risks when hiking. It's more likely than not Mr Stiles lost his footing and fell to his tragic and untimely death."