New Zealand incidents

[wayno]

Christchurch doctor's drowning highlights 'inherent' river crossing risks

A Christchurch doctor who drowned while training for the Coast to Coast was inexperienced at river crossings and panicked before being swept downstream.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103087 ... sing-risks

RECOMMENDATIONS ENDORSED BY CORONER ROBINSON
http://www.nzlii.org/cgi-bin/sinodisp/n ... 17/65.html

[wayno]

Dead trampers 'unprepared' for alpine conditions in forest park

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103159 ... orest-park

[wayno]

She noted there was very little rain forecast over the park for the next few days so the high rivers had taken the group by surprise

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/ ... canterbury

[wayno]

A German tourist died in Dunedin Hospital after suffering a fall along the Gertrude Saddle, near the Homer Tunnel, last weekend.

https://advocatesouth.co.nz/news/3063-i ... doors.html

[Lamont]

Another underestimated walk (route) pushed on Trip Advisor (at least it was last time I was there 2017 and looked on TA). I remember a local telling me that this walk and injuries incurred on it by fools not knowing what they were doing, was fairly frequently sending people to the local doctors. I'd love to see some stats, I only came across kiwis, when I wasn't alone here, and everyone knew their limits. As I said earlier, never got to the top of the cable and up onto the saddle.

[wayno]

Two trampers found freezing and exhausted in the bush only had hours left to live, says a rescuer.

The pair of men, aged 53 and 61 from the Manawatu region, had to be rescued after they were caught out by harsh weather conditions while travelling between huts in the Tararua Range – leaving them with no option but to hunker down and activate a personal locator beacon on Monday night.

https://times-age.co.nz/hours-from-death/

[wayno]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103531 ... ar-mt-cook

Three international students rescued after becoming stranded in snow near Mt Cook had been warned about the changing weather conditions.

A search was initiated for the three women after they were reported overdue from a tramp about 8.30pm on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

The group had become stranded in deep snow on the track up to Mueller Hut, in the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

The trampers, caught out by the large amounts of snow, were able to raise the alarm using a cellphone.

The Christchurch Westpac Rescue Helicopter was also called to the scene about an hour after the women were reported overdue.

The Aoraki Alpine Team and Mackenzie Land Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteers searched for the women – two Britons and an American – and found them "in the midst of the high boulder field", Department of Conservation (DOC) senior ranger David Dittmer said.

Rescue helicopter spokesman Wayne Ledgerwood said the cellphone was triangulated to find the women about 1600 metres above sea level, in a steep basin, just after midnight.

"With the assistance of members of the Mt Cook SAR team, the group of three were winched into the helicopter and flown down to the SAR base."

Dittmer said the women were suffering from "extreme cold but were OK otherwise".

"It is fair to say these international students learnt their lesson the hard way."

Local DOC staff had told the trio they should postpone their trip due to "threatening weather conditions".

They were very appreciative of being rescued, he said.

The rescue served as a reminder about how challenging New Zealand's weather could be, and that people should heed the advice of local DOC staff when planning their wilderness adventures, Dittmer said.

DOC describes the four-hour long track from Mt Cook village to Mueller Hut as suitable for "advanced" trampers.

The alpine route zig-zags through scrub, herb fields and tussocks, and at certain times of the year becomes a "steep snow slope", according to DOC's website.

[GPSGuided]

Has the freeze come early there in NZ this year?

[wayno]

Has the freeze come early there in NZ this year?

yes, as posted two weeks ago

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=27671

Avalanche advisory
https://www.avalanche.net.nz/forecasts/detail.asp?m=9

[wayno]

Man rescued from Kaimanawa Ranges with gunshot wound

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/ ... shot-wound

[GPSGuided]

Man rescued from Kaimanawa Ranges with gunshot wound

Doesn't sound like a tramper.

[wayno]

Trampers rescued in Ruahine Ranges

http://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/ ... -overnight

Hawkes Bay Police and LandSAR volunteers were involved in the rescue of two men in the Ruahine Ranges last night.

Around 6:30pm two 18-year-old men contacted Police via cellphone when they found themselves disorientated in deteriorating weather conditions.

The two were tramping along Broken Ridge towards the Hinerua Hut.

One of the males was beginning to display signs of hypothermia and a rescue mission was planned to extract them.

Due to weather conditions a helicopter could not rescue the pair, however a party of three LandSAR volunteers was deployed around 10:30pm to walk to the men.

Around 5am today the team located the males who were tired and cold but otherwise safe.

[wayno]

Two foreign tourists rescued after a freezing -19 degree Celsius night on a Nelson Lakes mountain were at the "close down, die stage" when they were found and are remarkably lucky to be alive, police say.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/new ... g-mountain

[Lizzy]

Aussie Police Officer dies while whitewater rafting in Queenstown. RIP
https://www.google.com.au/amp/amp.abc.n ... le/9782714

[wayno]

Twin talks about the flash flood tragedy that took brother's life
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/national-vid ... _id=193542

[wayno]

Ice axe, crampons needed on Tongariro Alpine Crossing, police say

Police are warning people intending to tramp the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to be fully prepared after an English tourist plunged 100m down rocks and ice this morning.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12062105

[wayno]

more info on the Tongariro rescue on "bulletproof ice"

https://www.rescue.org.nz/media/woman-r ... tongariro/

[GPSGuided]

Bullet proof ice?

[wayno]

Bullet proof ice?

rock hard

[wayno]

When Pavel Pazniak and Mykhailo Stepura set out to tramp through the Tararua Range, it was a clear, sunny day. Blue skies and a light wind could have made anyone think it was a good day to tackle the treacherous mountain ridge. But days later their bodies were found 900 metres from safety. Kirsty Lawrence investigates what went wrong and why.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standa ... arua-range

[Strider]

Ice axe, crampons needed on Tongariro Alpine Crossing, police say

Police are warning people intending to tramp the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to be fully prepared after an English tourist plunged 100m down rocks and ice this morning.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12062105

Yet just a couple of days ago the MSC were recommending that people be fully prepared with a rain jacket...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wayno]

Ice axe, crampons needed on Tongariro Alpine Crossing, police say

Police are warning people intending to tramp the Tongariro Alpine Crossing to be fully prepared after an English tourist plunged 100m down rocks and ice this morning.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12062105

Yet just a couple of days ago the MSC were recommending that people be fully prepared with a rain jacket...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

msc these days are mainly an office bound organisation that generates media, they rely on third parties often volunteers to tell them whats going on around the country. the avalanche warning forecasts havent even been generated for all the normal parks yet, it's early in the season. msc divested themselves of all their volunteer instructors. the Federated mountain clubs were pretty scathing about them, they get govt money, but what they do is often duplicated already from other online sources. they called for them to have their funding taken away, , The FMC receive all their money from membership subscriptions from affiliated mountain sport clubs...

[wayno]

Injured woman brought to safety in lengthy operation on Little Mt Peel

https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/n ... le-mt-peel

[izogi]

msc divested themselves of all their volunteer instructors. the Federated mountain clubs were pretty scathing about them, they get govt money, but what they do is often duplicated already from other online sources. they called for them to have their funding taken away,

That's only partly fair, I think. MSC looked at what it was doing and decided that courses were of low value because they weren't reaching so many of the people at the most risk, or something like that. How many of the people whom you read about in serious incidents would ever have considered going near an MSC course?

The decision was rightly controversial because the it crippled a whole structure of amateur trainers and low-cost ways to build expertise, but there was reasoning behind it. There's plenty of logic in arguing that some of the funding MSC received towards running low-cost courses, researching safety and producing materials to upskill people who want to be upskilled could be diverted to another organisation which actually wants to do those things, like Outdoor Training NZ, which formed from the remnants of disgruntled former MSC instructors.

MSC does produce stuff that's not simply duplicating other sources, though. As part of its work in trying to invent a useful purpose for itself, someone noticed there's a void of useful comparable data about outdoor accidents. That's where the There and Back report came from, which makes a fairly good initial attempt at consolidating all the data on outdoor incidents into a clear report that'll hopefully be updated again and again over time to help figure out if and how things are changing. https://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/insig ... -and-back/

The report includes many circles.

[wayno]

Hypothermic man rescued from Ureweras after weeks in the bush
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104587 ... n-the-bush

[wayno]

Waihi Land Search & Rescue
June 4 at 10:43pm ·
Three missions in a row over night,
mission one,
A group of students called for assistance in the Kaimai rangers katikati, Tauranga SAR attended and stayed with them overnight before walking them out today. Waihi SAR were on standby and stood down.

Mission Two,
A party of 4 went for a tramp up to Te Rere A Tukahia Hut and a large slip came down behind them, they tried to make their way past the slip but could not find the other side so went back to the hut and stayed put (good call) a team from Paeroa and Waihi went to extract them before the weather packed up again, 6 hours and 17kms later we had them out safe.

Mission Three,
A tourist was at the same hut as the party of 4, and headed off on his own, and was overdue Waihi SAR was setting up and sorting taskings for search groups when he walked out on his own.

Great to see people enjoying the out door and some good calls were made to hunker down and call for help and stay put until help arrived.

[wayno]

Concerns some Tongariro Crossing operators are abandoning passengers in dangerous weather
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12058603

[wayno]

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstow ... queenstown

[wayno]

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstow ... d-hospital

[wayno]

5 deaths, 500 rescues, 4000 tramping injuries every year

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/10492320 ... ident-data