1 Nov 2018

Top mountain guides killed in Aoraki avalanche

From Morning Report, 7:10 am on 1 November 2018

Praise has been flooding in for the two mountain guides who were killed in an avalanche on Mount Hicks in Aoraki Mt Cook National park on Wednesday. Wolfgang Maier and Martin Hess died while returning from the summit early on Wednesday morning. Their climbing partner, philanthropist and adventurer Jo Morgan, was also buried but managed to dig her way out and raise the alarm. Until the tragedy, Mrs Morgan was on track to become the first New Zealand grandmother to climb all peaks over 3000m in the country. Area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin says police will be conducting a full investigation, interviewing everyone involved before referring the case to the coroner. He told reporter Conan Young there was high risk of avalanche in the area at the time.