Swedish Climber Falls to Death on New Zealand's Mount Cook

November 3,2013

 

 

 

 

 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A Swedish man who was climbing and skiing on New Zealand's tallest mountain has fallen to his death.
Police say 32-year-old Magnus Kastengren fell about 600 meters (2,000 feet) Sunday while he and climbing partner Andreas Fransson were ski traversing near the lower summit of Mount Cook.
The mountain is also known by its indigenous Maori name, Aoraki.
(MORE: 15 World Landmarks Threatened by Climate Change)
Police say Fransson was not injured and has now left the country bound for Sweden.
Police say the pair were experienced climbers and conditions were good at the time of the accident. However, the area is not recognized as being suitable for skiing and what the men were attempting is considered by experts to be extreme.
The accident comes a week after a Japanese and a New Zealand climber died on Mount Taranaki.

MORE: Old-Timey Mountaineering

7 / 52

German mountaineers Peter Siegert, Reiner Krauschke and Gerd Uhner celebrate their ascent of the 9,480 feet Laveredo peak in the Dolomite Alps, northern Italy, ca. 1963. They climbed for 17 days, sleeping suspended by ropes from the rock face. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)