A Czech tramper who died while walking the Routeburn track in 2016 likely succumbed to hypothermia, a coroner has found.
Ondrej Petr (27) died near Lake Mackenzie on July 28, 2016, after he and partner Pavlina Pizova became disoriented in bad weather.
After being caught out by darkness and bad weather on July 27, they spent a night in the open without a tent.
In the morning they were soaked through because of heavy snow, and Mr Petr showed signs of hypothermia.
However, the weather was clear and they could see Lake Mackenzie Hut, so set off with the intention of having breakfast there.
But instead of following the marked track, they decided to take a "short cut'', became disorientated and ended up walking in the wrong direction.
The weather deteriorated again, and their attempts to find the track again were unsuccessful. Mr Petr began removing items of clothing and behaving irrationally.
Then the pair were caught in a small avalanche, and Mr Petr became wedged between branches and rocks.
Ms Pizova was unable to move him, and he had difficulty breathing because of the weight of his pack and the branches. Eventually he stopped breathing and died.
She spent the rest of the night beside him, then attempted to reach the hut, but in poor weather again became lost and spent a third night in the open before managed to reach the hut in the early afternoon of the next day.
Ms Pizova was rescued on August 24 after spending 24 days alone in the Lake Mackenzie warden's hut.
Petr's body was recovered by police and LandSAR volunteers two days later on a steep mountainside, below the track, about 2km from the hut.
Ms Tutton said a police report concluded the couple had embarked on an alpine track in severe winter conditions, despite seeing "multiple warnings relating to weather, terrain and avalanche risk''.
They did not have a locator beacon or leave details of their intentions. They did not have suitable equipment for spending the night away from shelter, or have alpine gear suitable for the terrain such as snow shoes, a snow shovel or an ice axe.
Mr Petr's clothing was inadequate for the sub-zero Celsius temperatures and snowfall he encountered, leading to fatigue and low body temperature.
The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council provided a report on the incident for the Coroner, concluding that while the ultimate cause of Petr's death was hypothermia, there were many opportunities to make decisions that "almost certainly" would have led to a different outcome.
The Coroner's report said the pair were not prepared or experienced enough to make informed decisions about their choice of route in winter. Despite being told they should not walk the track in winter conditions, they chose to do so.
