Two Canterbury trampers died in separate West Coast incidents at the weekend.
A 32-year-old Christchurch woman died while tramping with four others in Deception Valley, near Otira, yesterday.
Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Corbett, of Tasman, said the woman was swept down a river about 3km up Deception Valley, towards Goat Valley.
‘‘They were making their third crossing of the Deception River when she became detached from her group and was swept downstream.''
The trampers found the woman about 1km downstream. They attempted to resuscitate her before emergency services arrived, but she died at the scene.
The tramping party activated its emergency locator beacon about 11am and a rescue helicopter and other emergency services went straight to the scene, he said.
The woman's body was flown to Greymouth.
Her name would be released after her family had been contacted.‘‘It's been a sad start to the year on the West Coast,'' Acting Snr Sgt Corbett said.
Eric Jacomb (54) died after slipping on ice and falling in South Westland on Saturday.
He lived in Rangiora with his wife Janet and their children. He worked for farming co-operative LIC, having supervised dairy farms and managed mixed sheep and cropping farms for more than 15 years.
Sergeant Sean Judd, of West Coast police search and rescue, said members of the South Westland alpine cliff rescue team recovered the body yesterday on the Mawson Glacier, near the headwaters of the Whataroa River.
Mr Jacomb, an experienced tramper, became separated on Saturday from the four friends he was tramping with.
He had planned to meet his friends at Top Butler Hut later in the day and when he failed to arrive, they became concerned and called police on a hired mountain radio about 6.30pm, Sgt Judd said.
Low cloud and heavy rain prevented searchers accessing the area until early yesterday and, after speaking to the friends, began an aerial search.
‘‘The team sighted a body at the base of a bluff. It appears the man has slipped and tragically fallen to his death.''
The man was believed to have slipped on ice.
His body was flown to Fox Glacier and the friends were flown to Franz Josef.
