Woman who died in Mt Cook fall named

The 28-year-old Australian woman had been climbing The Footstool, a 2764m mountain north of Aoraki. Photo / Mary Hobbs

The Australian woman who died after falling 300 metres on a peak near Mt Cook has now been named.

She was 28-year-old Nicola Anne Andrews, from Melbourne.

Canterbury Police were alerted to the tragedy yesterday when a personal locator beacon was activated on the Eugenie Glacier shortly after 8am.

Ms Andrews had been climbing The Footstool, a 2764m mountain north of Aoraki.

Her death has been referred to the coroner and police Inspector Dave Gaskin said investigations into what caused the "tragic accident" were continuing.

"Nicola was with a group of three equally experienced and equipped climbers on the Footstool before she fell around 300m onto the Eugenie Glacier. She was very seriously injured but still alive when members of her party set off a personal locator beacon," he said.

"The fact that the climbers were able to call for help by setting of a beacon enabled emergency services to reach Nicola relatively quickly and gave her the best possible chance of survival. The climbing party have been working with Police to piece together the events which led to the tragic fall."

Mr Gaskin said the margin for error in the mountains was small.

"At this stage it would appear that Nicola and her climbing partners did everything they could to minimise risks. They will be asking themselves 'what if' and trying to understand how this tragic accident could have happened. Unfortunately, given the volatile terrain, sometimes there is no explanation."

Canterbury police were now reminding climbers heading into the high country this summer to check weather conditions, plan their trip, know their limits, take adequate equipment and supplies and always carry a personal locator beacon.