The decision of an experienced mountain guide not to use a belay spike while climbing on Aoraki-Mt Cook lead to his death, a coroner has found.
Coroner Richard McElrea found Anton Francis Wopereis, 54, died when he fell near the summit of Mt Cook on New Year's Day 2008, the Timaru Herald reported.
Mr Wopereis was one of five guides leading a client on the Linda Glacier route and was the last of the group to climb the summit rocks.
At an inquest into Mr Wopereis' death last November, other guides gave evidence that the combined effect of the eight previous climbers would have weakened the surface snow. Mr Wopereis's client, Scottish climber Vicky Jack, told the coroner the accident happened as he climbed above her to attach a fresh anchor to the slope.
He fell 60m, hitting rocks on the way.
Unlike guides who went ahead of him that day, Mr Wopereis' safety rope was not belayed, or fixed to the rock .
Guide Dave McKinley, who climbed before Mr Wopereis, told the inquest it was not as simple as a wrong decision.
He said if a client was unable to belay proficiently being held up could put the leading climber at risk.
Half the time he climbed the Summit Rocks he chose to do so without being belayed.
However, Mr McKinley agreed that if Mr Wopereis had been belayed it was unlikely the fall would have killed him.
Mr McElrea found that not belaying cost Mr Wopereis his life, and it could have placed his client in peril if there had not been other guiding support immediately available.
No fault lay with his client or any of the other four guides and their clients.
