A German tramper who fell 300m to his death on the Cascade Saddle Route in the Mount Aspiring National Park last June did not have appropriate footwear or sufficient experience for the conditions, a coroner has found.
Aircraft engineer Julian Stukenborg (23) had set off from Aspiring Hut on June 17, after leaving an entry in the hut book advising his intended route over the Cascade Saddle and on to the Routeburn Track.
Coroner David Crerar said Mr Stukenborg had successfully negotiated the steeper part of the track on his ascent to the saddle but then deviated from it and walked north along the edge of the bluffs, an area which offered good photographic opportunities.
Mr Stukenborg was a keen photographer, and there were several photos from his tramp found on his camera. It was presumed he had left the track to gain a better vantage point of the valley below, then lost his footing.
He fell about 300m, a height deemed to be unsurvivable, and suffered severe head injuries, and spine and leg fractures.
After snow which fell in the area, between June 17 and 24, had melted, Wanaka police and a Land Search and Rescue team located Mr Stukenborg's body on June 26, about 300m from the ridgeline down the Cascade Bluffs and about 400m north of the track that passes the Pylon.
Mr Crerar said that although Mr Stukenborg's lightweight, flexible-soled tramping boots would have been suitable for track walking or less difficult tramps in summer conditions, they were not ideal for negotiating ice or snow and allowed "no margin for error".
The area in which he was tramping was mostly clear of snow, but there could have been a layer of frozen ground and light snow still present along the top of the bluffs and the higher part of the track.
Mr Crerar said although Mr Stukenborg was fit and had tramping experience, he had overestimated his ability and was underprepared for the tramp.
"Julian Stukenborg left a well-marked and safer track and traversed to an area of steeper bluffs, no doubt to scope areas for photographic opportunity.
His lack of experience in some conditions allowed him to underestimate the slippery footing and it is this which has proved fatal.
"The death of Mr Stukenborg is another tragic example of a visitor to our country from overseas underestimating New Zealand alpine conditions, particularly winter conditions."
Mr Stukenborg's death also highlighted the risks associated with solo tramping, Mr Crerar said.
