German tramper Julian Stukenborg (23) had veered off the marked route when he fell to his death on the Cascade Saddle Route in the Mount Aspiring National Park, Wanaka police say.
Mr Stukenborg's body was recovered on Sunday from the Matukituki Valley in an area below the Cascade Saddle. He had deviated a short distance from the track and fallen about 200m from the ridgeline down the Cascade cliff faces after setting off from Aspiring Hut a week earlier.
Irish doctor Donal Deery (29) and Christchurch tramper Craig Cameron (34) fell on the Cascade Saddle Route and were killed in 2005 and 2004, respectively.
But those incidents had occurred in "very different terrain" on the marked track up to the Pylon - a trig marker at the highest point of the saddle, some distance from Mr Stukenborg's fall, Wanaka LandSAR member Constable Mike Johnston said.
Police believe Mr Stukenborg, a keen photographer, had possibly left the track to gain a better vantage point of the valley below, then lost his footing.
He had already successfully negotiated the route's "highest risk" area where the other two deaths occurred.
"You can't mitigate people going off the beaten track to go and look for these things," Const Johnston said.
"You can put as many signs up as you want, it still won't stop some people going into some areas. And if you put up barriers, they can actually be magnets to some people.
"Individuals have to take responsibility for their actions based on their own personal risk assessment."
Mr Stukenborg had some tramping experience, was well-equipped and had recorded his intentions in a hut log book.
"He had done everything right but there's always that human element of making a mistake."
Following recommendations made by the coroner investigating Mr Deery's death, additional warnings on the Cascade Saddle Route's risk factors were issued to trampers by means of more signs and Department of Conservation brochures.
Warning signs are now located at Raspberry Creek car park, Aspiring Hut, on the route departing from the hut and at the bushline where trampers enter the alpine environment.
Police and Doc would review the route's signs and publications again, leading up to the coroner's inquest for Mr Stukenborg's death, Wanaka Doc area manager Paul Hellebrekers said.
