23 Dec 2015

Australian climber killed in Mount Cook fall

8:39 pm on 23 December 2015

Police have confirmed that a climber who died after falling this morning in the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park was a 29-year-old Australian woman.

Rescue teams responded to a personal location beacon activated on the Eugenie Glacier at the bottom of the Footstall, shortly after 8am.

The woman was airlifted to the Aoraki Mount Cook Search and Rescue Base where she received medical treatment, but she died a short time later.

Inspector Dave Gaskin said the woman fell approximately 300 metres from near the top of the peak onto the glacier.

He said all members of her climbing party were experienced and well-equipped and weather conditions prior to the accident were understood to have been good.