Woman who died tramping in Wanaka named

Motatapu Station near Wanaka. Photo / Getty Images

A 68-year-old woman who died after slipping and falling about 40m from a walking track near Wanaka has been identified as Maureen Anne Schofield.

Police said Mrs Schofield, who was on the Fern Burn Track in Motatapu with the Wanaka Walkers group yesterday, lived in Wanaka.

She is survived by her husband and two children.

Wanaka police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said Mrs Schofield's death was a "real tragedy".

"[She] slipped on the edge of the track and lost her balance falling down the bank," he said.

"Unfortunately the slope was steep enough that she could not arrest her fall and she slid backwards approximately 40m before dropping over a 3m bluff onto a rocky creek bed below.

Two doctors in Ms Schofield's tramping party of 22 were unable to save her and she died at the scene, Mr Nicholson said.

The track the group were on eventually links to the Motatapu Track.