Police Inspector Dave Gaskin said the two incidents on consecutive days in the Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park were not related and were not due to bad weather. He said they come as a reminder that climbers need to use extreme caution.
On Friday, 36-year-old Duncan Raite died after slipping and falling about 60 meters (200 feet) from a ridge near the Tasman Glacier. The New Zealand-born Australian was planning to do some ski touring. He'd been dropped off by helicopter with a group and was walking to a hut when he fell, sliding down a steep slope and over a cliff.
On Saturday, 32-year-old Englishman Robert Buckley fell about 600 meters while climbing to a small hut on Mount Sefton with three companions. Gaskin said Buckley was wearing crampons but was inexperienced.
