Skiers see climber fall to his death

Photo / Alan Gibson

A climber plunged 300m to his death in front of dozens of horrified skiers on Mt Ruapehu yesterday.

The 26-year-old man was one of four students on a New Zealand Alpine Club training weekend who were ascending Grand Gully, near Whakapapa ski field.

He was climbing with crampons and pick axes when he slipped near the Pinnacle Ridge in icy conditions.

The group's two guides watched helplessly as the man fell down the steep ravine and landed at the bottom of the ski slopes around 11am yesterday.

A skier who was on the mountain said: "I was at the top of the express chairlift and then I heard a chairload of people come up in a panic yelling out that they had seen a climber tumbling down The Pinnacles and to call in ski patrol because they thought it looked really bad.

"Ski patrol were the next chair coming up, so I think they saw it as well and were already on to it. A lot of people saw it and just said it looked really bad.

"The rocks were icy and just real slippery."

Mountain patrol officers raced to perform CPR on the man but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses saw an officer ski down the mountain with a body bag attached to the sleigh.

Alpine club president Peter Cammell described the man's death as a tragedy for his family.

"There is always an element of risk whenever you go out on to the mountain," he said. "I have been tramping for over 30 years and I am always on full alert when I go out.

"The instructional courses are run by volunteers and we have very strict safety guidelines."

Conditions had been extremely icy under foot.

Cammell said the climber had been taught to stop a fall with his ice axe or knees, elbows and hands but had been unable to do so.

Bad weather hampered attempts by a rescue helicopter to reach the ravine where the dead man's body was found.

Instructor Don French and another assistant instructor were taking the alpine instruction course.

Last night police were taking statements from the two instructors and the other students on the trip.

Whakapapa marketing manager Mike Smith said: "Our ski patrollers were able to get to the site at the bottom of the ski fields quite quickly and give CPR.

"But unfortunately he had already passed away. It's very extreme terrain out there, it's a double black, which is about the steepest grade you can get. It was a catastrophic fall."

The gully where the climber fell was closed as a ski field.

Cammell said most members of the alpine club were keen trampers who were looking for a new challenge. He said it was the first fatal accident involving an alpine club member that he was aware of.

The group had been staying overnight at the club's hut near the Whakapapa fields.

The man was the fifth person to die on the mountains this year.

A Christchurch snowboarder died from injuries after falling about 300m at Mt Hutt skifield on Friday.

- Additional reporting: Celeste Gorrell Anstiss