Rock climbers have been urged to ensure their equipment is safe after a coroner found a woman who fell 120 metres to her death in the Coromandel in 2018 "would have likely been prevented".
Lauren "Kimi" Worrell, a US citizen living in Auckland, died after falling more than 120 metres while attempting to descend a rock face at Castle Rock on August 19, 2018.
Coroner Michael Robb said the 28-year-old's death would have likely been prevented had she not used the purple nylon rope to descend the rock ledge.
Worrell was climbing with her boyfriend Richard Graham, who she'd been with for two-and-a-half months and was temporarily living with.
Both had climbing experience - Worrell had three years and Graham had one year - and they had both climbed Castle Rock before, as well as other locations.
On the morning of August 19, 2018, after walking to the top of Quiet Earth route, it was planned that Worrell would undertake the climb first and Graham would follow.
Graham believed the nylon rope she was using was "more than capable of holding a person's weight", although he noted it was heavily weathered, the coroner's report said.
Worrell got four to five metres below him on the ledge then appeared to slip, falling over the ledge and out of view.
Graham noted that Worrell had a 70-metres dynamic rope with her, however, based on the speed at which he saw her descend over the ledge, it appeared she was not hooked into the bolts using her own ropes. He said that it was most likely that she was attached using the fixed nylon rope, which she may have done to save time.
When Worrell fell, Graham heard her scream, then a thud. Thinking the worst he immediately phoned emergency services.
Two other climbers in the area also said they heard a noise like a rock tumbling, then a "snap" or "pop" followed by a rapid rustling and short scream.
Looking up they saw Worrell falling through the air with a full length rope appearing to be coiled around her body.
Worrell was unconscious when she was reached, and after 10 minutes she stopped breathing. Her boyfriend and other climbers in the area attempted to revive her with CPR after the fall but were unsuccessful.
When emergency services arrived they confirmed Worrell had died at the scene.
The coroner's report found she died from multiple rib and skeletal fractures, crush injuries to her lungs, lacerations of her liver and spleen, multiple soft tissue injuries and blood loss.
Police noted the rope appeared to be weathered and had faded colouration and evidence of fatiguing.
The lower part of the rope was frayed, indicating the possibility that it has snapped.
In a statement released via the NZ Police days after he incident, Worrel's family said she had just finished her Masters degree from the University of Auckland, and was "an avid outdoors enthusiast and rock-climber".
Her family also said they " wished to highlight a safety risk to those in the climbing community" following her death.
"The family ask climbers to consider very carefully their reliance on equipment left permanently fixed to rock faces, and the condition of this equipment," it read.
"This equipment will naturally be affected by UV rays and other elements of nature effecting its condition and reliability."
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