Woman dead after fall in Mt Aspiring National Park

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is stressing the importance of 'being prepared' following the third death at Mt Aspiring National Park this year.

A 24-year-old woman fell to her death at the park on Wednesday.

Police said they understood the woman and her climbing partner, both from overseas, were part way through a four-day trek from Makarora.

They were negotiating the Matukituki Waterfall face, near Rabbit Pass, when the fall happened about 1pm on Wednesday.

Another group who were nearby gave immediate assistance and alerted emergency services using a satellite phone.

Police and Alpine Cliff Rescue personnel were flown into the area and recovered the woman's body by 5pm.

No details on the woman's identity would be released until family overseas had been notified, police said.

DOC operations manager Mike Tubbs said the Matukituki Waterfalls was an 'extremely dangerous and treacherous' part of the trek from Makarora.

He said the death, the third in Mt Aspiring National Park this year, 'stresses the importance of being prepared'.

People going into such areas need to get the right information and make the right decision, he said.

'We do put information up that describes that particular part of the trip. It's an extremely serious undertaking and to be undertaken by experienced people who are well prepared.'

Wellington tramper Scott Oliver, 42, drowned in the Wilkin River during a tramping trip in the national park on January 4. 

In findings released on Monday, Coroner David Crerar said Oliver, a fit but inexperienced tramper, appeared to have tripped on an obstruction or been knocked off his feet by the strong surging river. His body was then carried down the river to the point where it was found 19 days later.

Allison Lynn Willen, a 20-year-old American tourist, drowned after falling into the Young River while tramping on the Gillespie Pass on April 25. 

Crerar found Willen had probably become hypothermic. If she had more experience with New Zealand's tramping conditions, she might have been wearing more appropriate clothing that could have helped her survive.

He said it was hoped the publicity around Willen's death 'may remind those tramping in the remote regions of the need for them to have the necessary experience and appropriate equipment'.