The death of a climber on the Coromandel in August 2018 has been attributed to the poor condition of a nylon rope she was using to attach to a rock face.
Photo: 123RF
Lauren Kimiyo Worrell, a 28-year-old American citizen living in New Zealand, fell 120 metres to her death on Castle Rock, where she was climbing with her partner.
The Coroner's report said a police investigation at the scene recovered nylon rope that appeared to be weathered and evidence of fatiguing.
The lower end of the rope was also frayed, indicating that it had possibly snapped.
Coroner Michael Robb found Worrell's death would likely have been prevented had she not used the rope to descend the rock ledge.
Worrell and her partner reached the top of Castle Rock Pinnacle and then planned to use the Quiet Earth route down.
Two bolts are drilled into the rock face at the top. A nylon rope was hooked onto the bolts which climbers could use.
The Coroner's report said Worrell's partner believed the nylon rope was more than capable of holding a person's weight, although he did note that it appeared heavily weathered.
Her partner said he saw Worrell four to five metres below him on the ledge about to go over the steepest part towards a repelling station.
He said she then appeared to slip, falling over the edge and out of view.
He then heard a scream which stopped with a thud.
The report said Worrell had a 70m dynamic rope with her, however, based on the speed at which he saw her descend, it appeared to him that she was not hooked into the bolts using her own ropes.
He believed it was most likely that she was attached using the fixed nylon rope, which she may have done to save time.
A police officer, with 36 years' experience with search and rescue, said the rope should not have been used as an anchor point or safety line in itself.
An expert on climbing ropes also told the Coroner that using a fixed point nylon rope alone was not good climbing practice as they should use their own ropes to avoid the potential for single points of failure.
The Coroner has accepted two recommendations from the New Zealand Alpine Club that the installation of fixed ropes, slings and other soft equipment is discouraged and that climbers self-report safety issues associated with climbs.