A woman ''could not believe what was happening'' as she saw her husband fall to his death on the Milford Track.
George Clyde Little (69), of Auckland, died after falling from McKinnon Pass on March 6 last year and was one of three Fiordland deaths covered in coroner inquiries released today.
A second inquiry focused on the deaths of two 23-year-old Canadian tourists, Louis-Vincent Lessard and Etienne Lemieux, who died of suffocation after they were swept away by an avalanche while walking the Kepler Track in the middle of winter last year.
The pair ignored multiple warnings, including from a Te Anau service station operator, not to go on the Kepler Track because of weather conditions and amount of snow on the track and paid ''the ultimate price'' the coroner ruled.
The inquiry into the death of Mr Little - who went by the name Clyde - quotes his wife Jill Little's reaction to seeing him fall off the side of the track.
''I looked up and saw a flash of Clyde falling over the bank.
''I could not believe what was happening.
''I did not hear anything.
''I could not see Clyde over the bank at all, '' Mrs Little said.
Coroner David Crerar said Mr Little was walking faster and a little ahead of others in the party - which was organised by Milton Rotary Club - when he fell from a steeper section of the track close to the top of the McKinnon Pass.
He fell between 100 and 150 metres down the slope.
Mr Crerar found that Mr Little died as a result of ''multiple traumatic injuries''.
The organisers of the trip were not responsible for the death and there appeared to be nothing ''inherently dangerous'' about the surface of the track.
One experienced tramper, Kelly Blakeborough, theorised his fall may have been caused by him tripping on a rock.
The inquiry into the two Canadian tourists, who were both students from Quebec, found they went on the track despite repeated warnings it was too dangerous.
Mr Crerar cited Mountain Safety Council report which said the deaths were caused by the tourists' lack of experience in New Zealand conditions, and a failure to change plans when advised multiple times of the hazards.
The council also said their poor decision making both before and during the trip, which included their failure to identify avalanche-prone slopes, also contributed to their deaths.
Mr Crerar also noted they were ``dismissive'' of warning signs at the start of the track.
''[Mr Lessard and Mr Lemieux] on this occasion , have ignored the warnings given to them and have paid the ultimate price for their ignoring such warnings,'' Mr Crerar said.
He recommended Doc follow the recommendations of a report which suggested enhancing practices at the visitor centre at Fiordland National Park and focusing on the management of avalanche hazards.
He also endorsed the recommendation that Doc investigate installing security cameras to record conversations between staff and the public at visitor centres nationally.
In particular he supported the recommendation that visitor centres ability to give current information about avalanche hazards be upgraded.
He also adopted the suggestion of Mr Lemieux's parents that Doc investigate installing signage on the Kepler Track identifying areas of acute avalanche risk.
Mr Crerar found the pair were engulfed in an avalanche on the morning of July 9 while walking on the Kepler Track between Hanging Valley Shelter and Luxmore Hut.
Both of them were swept several hundred metres down the slopes and died of suffocation.
