One of the first rescuers to reach the scene of an avalanche on Sunday in which a Queenstown man was killed has told of the desperate search for any sign of life.
Coronet Peak ski patroller Pete Valentine yesterday said he and colleague Luke Hasselman urgently scanned the Dirty Four Creek area, about 1km beyond the Coronet Peak ski field for "gloves, skis, poles, anything that could give an idea of where the person was buried".
Ryan Manu Campbell (30), who had been snowboarding with his brother Fraser, was found buried under about 3.5m of snow more than two and a-half hours after he was caught by an avalanche of about 1000 tonnes of snow and debris at 4.40pm.
He had been swept up to 200m down the mountain.
He was unconscious and treated at the scene when he was found about 7pm, but pronounced dead at Lakes District Hospital about 8.10pm.
Mr Valentine said it was -2degC and daylight was fading when the pair reached the area.
"You see quite a lot of avalanches as a patrolman and this was a big one in a small gully.
"We do training for this, so thankfully it clicks in automatically and you go through all the checks in your head.
"About the same time, we updated the police and asked for dogs and more people to help out the rescue," he said.
The large amount of snow and terrain made it a difficult search.
"There was definitely a sense of urgency."
About 30 personnel from Coronet Peak, Remarkables, Cardrona, Alpine Cliff Rescue Team and Queenstown police used search dogs, helicopters and vehicles in the search and rescue operation.
Rescuers worked out Mr Campbell's likely trajectory, but when their transceiver search did find a signal, rescuers used probes and a device that detected circuit boards to find the man via his cellphone.
Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, said the danger of avalanches in the back country was very high.
"It's a very risky business at the moment.
"You've got a young guy enjoying himself with his brother and they should have had a fantastic time but unfortunately [they] didn't appreciate the risks."
Mr Campbell was not wearing a transceiver, which Snr Sgt Fookes said would have made rescue faster.
"There was a massive amount of very deep debris and that presents a heck of a problem.
"We used dogs, electronic devices . . . there were a lot of people up on the hill that night and that puts them in a position of risk as well."
Coronet Peak senior staff yesterday stressed it was an accident that happened away from the skifield.
Ski area manager Hamish McCrostie said when people made the decision to cross skifield boundaries they had to live with the consequences.
Mr McCrostie said avalanches were a fact of nature.
About 50cm of snow had fallen in the previous week and northwesterly winds had loaded up southern-facing aspects.
"When you go in the back country, don't travel alone.
"The other message is, self-rescue is the best form of rescue in the back country.
"Everyone [should be] equipped with avalanche beacons, probes and shovels so if one person is buried the others can locate them and dig them out.
"Because you're in the back country, the time from when something occurs to when you get the word out for help, often it can take a while.
"In last night's case, we had people on site 15 minutes after we had notification.
"Obviously, the first five minutes are critical in an avalanche."
The alarm was raised by a female witness in a telephone call.
NZSki chief executive James Coddington said signs clearly stated where Coronet Peak ski field ended and where the back country began.
Ropes delineated the entire out-of-bounds area and signs at the top of ski chairlifts stated the level of avalanche risk, which had been marked "high" for 12 days.
