New Zealand avalanche victim named as Sydney man Roger Greville

Roger Greville was pulled from avalanche debris on the Hector Mountains on Monday afternoon but died a short time later.

AN amateur GoPro video uploaded onto Chinese social media may have captured the avalanche that killed Australian heli-skier Roger Greville.

Several of Mr Greville’s relatives are expected to arrive in Queenstown today and have requested privacy.

The death has been referred to the coroner and police are working to advise next of kin.

At 2.48pm, the company received confirmation that the skier had been located.

He said he was confident the investigation would determine the exact cause of the accident.

“Heli-skiing is not unsafe, however – like any adventure activity – it carries inherent risk”, he said.

It is the first incident of its nature for the company, which is taking the matter very seriously.

“Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of the deceased”.

“However, despite the considerable efforts of guides and paramedics the skier was pronounced dead at the scene some time later”.

A post-mortem is scheduled to occur this morning.

Alpine Cliff Rescue team co-leader Chris Prudden last night said there had been new snow in the area, so there would be a few spots that were “a little bit sensitive”. “New Zealand has been snowing for two days in a row, sunny today, we must all remember not to go helicopter skiing after heavy snow”. “What you want is consistency but it’s never possible to look at the snow and say every patch of it is safe”.

It will resume heli-skiing on Wednesday after suspending operations on Tuesday.

A voice is heard telling him to “take care” just as he heads off, but when the avalanche is suddenly spotted someone screams “careful, careful”.

In his bulletin yesterday he had said the weight of a single person could be enough to trigger an event.