A growing number of foreign climbers may die on New Zealand mountains after being lured there by the promise of adventure on mountains showcased in The Lord of the Rings movies, mountain safety authorities warned on Wednesday.
The warning comes after a 22-year-old Australian fell to his death on Aoraki-Mt Cook on Tuesday, becoming the 10th person to die in the area in the past four months.
New Zealand Mountain Safety Council executive director Ian Nicholson said the marketing of New Zealand as an adventure playground would lure adventure seekers to the country, and more deaths were likely to follow.
”We are promoted as a country that has adventure outdoors — The Lord of the Rings paints a picture of this wonderful environment,” he said.
”Our tourism [marketing] encourages people to go on outdoor holidays … just by sheer population increase of people doing activities more accidents are going to crop up.”
Some people fell victim to the extreme weather conditions and difficult terrain of New Zealand’s easily accessible landscapes, and others took risks in order to maintain a schedule, he said.
Accidents also happened when all preparations were taken.
The Australian who died on Tuesday appeared to have done everything right, before he tripped and fell about 1 000m down the mountain, the Mt Cook incident controller, Ray Bellringer, said. — Sapa-AFP