The 24-year-old, whose identity was not released at the request of his family, was scrambling - climbing without a rope - up Mount Kidd in Kananaskis last Thursday when he fell about 50 metres, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Another man who was with him called for help, but local conservation officers found he had no pulse when they arrived and he was declared dead, the Calgary Herald reported on Saturday.

Kananaskis Country public safety specialist George Field told the Herald scrambling was not advisable in the Rockies because of the nature of the terrain, which he described as intermediate.

"[It's] not something we look at as a good decision in the Rockies because the rock is so broken up.

"They got up some steeper terrain as they were scrambling and I don't know what caused the individual to fall off the mountain," Mr Field said.

"If something goes wrong and you can't catch yourself, then the fall, as we know, can be quite traumatic or fatal."

Stephen Hamilton, managing director of Australian climbing magazine Rock, said scrambling was like climbing a steep flight of stairs.

"Scrambling is easy climbing, it's not like there's anything technical about it. It can be done unroped or roped.

"You could be scrambling around a sand dune or on a steep hill. If you are scrambling on loose dangerous ground, it's the loose dangerous ground which is the problem.

"[So an accident could happen] not by imcompetence of climbing, but from the terrain.''

Mr Hamilton said while he was not familiar with the terrain of Mount Kidd, a terrain described as intermediate would usually be suitable for a "competent climber''.

"It's for someone who's got some experience. It's not exactly for someone who has a lot of experience.''

But there were also some factors they were beyond a climber's control, he said.

"In all mountain circumstances, there's sometimes risk beyond your control, like avalanches, rock fall, storms.

"Scrambling is climbing a steep set of stairs, and you are going to hit the stairs if you fall, or there could be some missing stairs.''