KEY POINTS:
An experienced tramper who loved getting off the beaten track was yesterday swept to his death at a usually-tame river crossing.
The body of Trevor Norman Mason, 47, was recovered from a tributary of Dunedin's Silverstream, about 11am yesterday, some 700m from where he had lost his footing on a concrete-bottomed ford.
Sergeant Dave Scott of Dunedin police said Mason was with three others from the Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club when the incident happened about 7.30am.
His companions had to get to an area with cellphone coverage before being able to call for help.
The stream, about 15 minutes from Dunedin, was usually "nothing", he said, but heavy rain had turned it into a "raging torrent," flowing an estimated 10 times faster than normal.
"He was a very experienced tramper, they all had the right equipment. They had linked arms as you do when crossing a river but lost their footing and he got washed away."
The three other men with Mason managed to scramble to safety.
The four men were only 90 minutes into the club's annual 60km Silver Peaks Marathon when a "judgment call" went horribly wrong, club president Antony Pettinger told the Herald on Sunday.
MetService severe weather forecaster Mark Pascoe said a depression east of the country was to blame for yesterday's rain, cold winds and stormy weather.
The autumnal weather cooling much of the country is forecast to ease midweek, only to return at full-blast by week's end.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NICOLA SHEPHEARD
