Police have named the 38-year-old man whose body was recovered from the Cascade Saddle yesterday.
He was Frank Spychalski, from Steigertsbraun, Germany.
Mr Spychalski died after apparently falling about 200m from near the top of the Cascade Saddlein the Mount Aspiring National Park.
Police recovered the man's body yesterday after an aerial search of the area.
Acting Search and Rescue (SAR) co-ordinator Senior Constable Mike Johnston, of Wanaka, said a friend of the deceased contacted police on December 23 to report the man was overdue from a tramp which he started on November 29.
''The deceased has fallen on a snow patch very near the top of the climb. He has been unable to stop his fall and slid down the snow and over the edge of a ridge into a near vertical gully, stopping approximately 200m below,'' Snr Const Johnston said.
''This area of the Cascade Track has had previous fatalities.''
The recovery was conducted by members of Wanaka LandSAR, Alpine Cliff Rescue, Wanaka police and Aspiring Helicopters.
Snr Const Johnston said the Cascade Track was a steep and challenging ''poled'' route over the Cascade Saddle which had a high level of risk and required a high level of skill.
Police will publicly identify the man once his family in Germany has been contacted.
