Police have released the name of the veteran ski instructor killed in an avalanche in central Canterbury yesterday.
He was 38-year-old Jonathan Harvey Morgan, from Methven. The heli-skiing guide died when he was overwhelmed about 4pm in the Ragged Range behind Methven and the Rakaia headwaters.
The party of four he was guiding, a New Zealander, an Australian and two Japanese, escaped with their lives.
They were reported not to have been hit by the avalanche although one of the party suffered some minor injuries.
Mr Morgan, employed by Alpine Guides, was caught directly by yesterday's avalanche, the company's managing director Bryan Carter told NZPA.
He was dug out unconscious and did not respond to desperate efforts over two hours to revive him.
Mr Morgan's death was the second inside a month in the same area, both involving Alpine Guides.
Last month an Australian skier died in the same general area as yesterday's avalanche.
Before that the company had not had a fatality in 30 years.
