A 59-year-old Canberra man has died after falling off a small cliff on a walking track on the way back from climbing Tasmania's highest mountain, Mount Ossa, on Sunday afternoon.
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The man was walking with his 20-year-old son, when he stumbled and fell about 10 metres off a track in the Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair National Park, Tasmanian police said.
Inspector Darren Hopkins said the men were from Calwell in Canberra's south and set off for their planned seven-day walk from Cradle Mountain on Thursday.
Police believe the manfell on a steep section of the track on the way back from the Mount Ossa summit.
"The man has taken a fall at a very steep section," Detective Inspector Mike Gillies said.
The man's son was walking ahead of his when tragedy struck.
"The son has gone back and tried CPR without success," Inspector Hopkins said.
Police were called at about 4.30pm by satellite phone by a commercially-guided group who heard the son's cry for help.
Police were told the man had serious head injuries and had died from his injuries.
The Westpac Police Rescue helicopter was sent to the scene and found his body, picking up the son and taking him to Launceston.
"He is fairly traumatised and has flown back to Canberra to be with family [on Monday]," Inspector Hopkins said.
Bad weather and cloudy conditions prevented the helicopter from returning to pick up the policeman and paramedic left with the man's body, however.
The men camped overnight next to the cliff.
On Monday morning, bad weather continued to prevent police, SES and ambulance from recovering the man's body from the scene. The helicopter was also grounded due to the weather, police said.
"Weather conditions are very poor. We're having a lot trouble reaching the scene," Detective Inspector Gillies said.
A crew of eight police and SES officers walked to the area and picked up the body and the two officers on Monday afternoon.
