We did everything right: avalanche victim's guide

Mountain guide Kevin Boekholt. Photo / Supplied

Mountain guide Kevin Boekholt knew he had only minutes to dig his friend out from under an avalanche of snow.

In fact, it took him just seven minutes - in a rescue described as "remarkable" and "heroic" - but it was not enough to save the skier, a 60-year-old from Australia.

Mr Boekholt, a mountain guide with 26 years' experience who started Methven Heliskiing in 1986, said last night that the man was fit and loved the outdoors, especially skiing.

The pair had become friends as Mr Boekholt had taken him heliskiing in New Zealand for several years.

Yesterday, the Sydney man and two friends, Melbourne real estate agent John Castran, 53, and his son Angus, 23, flew to a remote Southern Alps valley near Methven with Mr Boekholt and fellow guide Jonny Morgan.

The conditions seemed perfect, with magically clear skies, Mr Boekholt said, but he was aware of the avalanche risk.

He was "extremely cautious", digging holes to assess the layering and movement of the snow before leading his clients down each run.

But just after 1pm, the group disturbed the snow, unleashing an avalanche that hurled an estimated 100 tonnes of debris down the mountain.

Mr Boekholt was skiing ahead of his clients and saw two of them buried. He summoned the helicopter to fly him back up the slope to dig them out.

The guides uncovered the men within minutes. But one had stopped breathing.

"We had all the right equipment and we did everything right," Mr Boekholt said. "When we dug him out he wasn't breathing, and that's unusual because in an avalanche, usually if you can dig someone out in 15 minutes they've got a 99 per cent chance of survival."

Mr Castran's other son, Lachlan, 25, said his father was in a stable condition. "It was a significant, life-threatening avalanche but they were rescued and got out of there."

It is believed John Castran used his tongue to keep snow away from his nose so he could breathe.

Mountain Safety Council executive Steve Schreiber said this was NZ's first avalanche fatality in five years.

In many ways, he said, the rapid rescue was a "very heroic moment, although it ended up in tragedy".

The party had taken the extra precaution of hiring an additional guide.

"It was a small party, they weren't pushing the boundaries with huge groups, they were going with people who knew what was going on, and that they were familiar with their ability. Unfortunately the snow didn't allow that to be a safe day."

The victim of the avalanche had been heliskiing in the area before and would have been aware of the risks.

"[Heliskiing] is not a walk in the park. It's recreating in a high-risk environment and ... he would have been completely informed about those risks. He chose to be there."

Mr Schreiber said the Mountain Safety Council had noticed the risk of avalanches growing for some time.

Methven Heliskiing guides had also been telling it that the conditions had been changing.

Mr Schreiber said snow specialists constantly monitored the snow and shared it through a daily network.

He said it was "pretty remarkable" the victim had been buried for only seven minutes. The snow was very soft, so the guides were able to dig through it quickly. Statistics showed a person buried for up to 18 minutes had a 93 per cent chance of survival.

"My understanding is that this gentleman was about 60 years of age and that they went to him very quickly ... so I suspect that there was something else going on, maybe an underlying illness that was related to this."

Yesterday, the Mountain Safety Council placed the avalanche danger rating at "high".

It said reports of crown walls up to 3m in depth had been observed in the Mackenzie Country, Mt Cook village and at ski areas in the South Island.