A Search and Rescue team made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to save a man who plunged 200m down an icy Mt Cook slope.
The 36-year-old man's fatal fall about noon on Friday was seen by his brother, who then had to spend a night in a hut before he could be taken off the mountain.
Helicopter Line pilot Jim Campbell said the dead man, who police have not named but said was a Kiwi living in Melbourne, was alive when rescuers reached him.
"He was conscious, but he was very badly hurt and he'd lost his hat and gloves in the fall so he was very cold."
"Atrocious" weather and poor visibility had prevented him from airlifting the man out. The rescue team instead stretchered the man down a glacier, walking a couple of hours to reach another helicopter, but the man died on the way.
