Okahune, New Zealand – Skiers at Whakapapa Ski Area on New Zealand’s Mt. Ruapehu watched helplessly on Saturday as a climber ascending The Pinnacles fell 1,000 feet to his death.nPaul McLauchlan, 34, of Wellington, New Zealand, was ascending Grand Gully, an extreme skiing route outside the ski area boundary, as part of a training run with the New Zealand Alpine Club when he slipped and fell. Witnesses watched on in horror as he tumbled 300 to 400 meters to Broken Leg Gully at the base of the ravine, where despite ski patrol’s CPR efforts the man perished.

Mt. Ruapehu Alpine Lifts marketing manager Mike Smith indicated that the area where the incident occurred was closed to skiing and snowboarding on Saturday due to a lack of snow cover. It is the venue for Mt. Ruapehu’s annual extreme skiing and snowboarding competition.

National Park Police are investigating the incident.