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High drama in the mountains of ENZED

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: June 27, 2009, 09:24:18 pm »


Climber lost hope days before death

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Friday, 26 June 2009

Only days before his death and stranded on Aoraki/Mount Cook, Kiyoshi Ikenouchi became despondent and appeared to have given up hope.

Yesterday in Twizel, a coroner's inquest was held into the death of the 49-year-old tourist, who, with his friend Hideaki Nara, 51, spent six days stranded on the mountain late last year.

It was found both men had underestimated their trip to the mountain and did not appreciate the seriousness of the endeavour to reach the Mount Cook summit.

Regional Coroner Richard McElrea ruled Mr Ikenouchi died on December 05 due to hypothermia and a lack of food and fluids.

The Tokyo-based pair were attempting a four-day trip in which they planned a "half-grand traverse", to reach the summit.

Coroner McElrea said a number of factors had been against the climbers.

"They were well equipped, arguably over equipped, they appeared to have planned their climb appropriately, but clearly underestimated their ability to achieve it.

"And, in [professional mountaineer David Crow's] words, they appeared to have no awareness of New Zealand mountain weather of appreciation of the seriousness of the climb they were on."

Neither man had a snow shovel, a "vital omission", Mr McElrea said. When they were stuck at Middle Peak, Mr Nara had to use a helmet and bowl to try to shift snow crushing their tent.

Senior Constable Brent Swanson of the Tekapo police read Mr Nara's statement to the court. "After three or four hours, I gave up because the snow was falling faster than I could shift it," Mr Nara said of the last night the men were on the mountain.

While the pair were tramping as friends, Mr Nara's partner was the senior on the trip. However, Mr Ikenouchi was growing despondent and was unwilling to help, Mr Nara said. Earlier, when Mr Nara suggested the pair shift the tent, Mr Ikenouchi declined. By their last night, the men had enough fuel to heat a billy of water and enough food for three more meals.

On Wednesday, December 03, an emergency drop pack was dropped by rescue crews and had hit the tent. However, Mr Nara said they thought it had been more ice falling.

In his evidence, Mr Crow, of Twizel, said the tent the pair stayed in during their days trapped had not had the tie-downs put out, "which is why it would have been collapsing around them".

They most likely would not have had the energy after arriving at the site to secure the tie-downs, he said, and still had not done so the following day.

Once the tent collapsed, early on December 05, the pair had to stay outside in the elements.

Mr Nara said in his statement that he had crouched in a schrund near a crevasse, while Mr Ikenouchi opted to lie on his side in his sleeping bag nearby.

Mr Nara said his climbing partner woke up several times during their night out. At one point, he heard him snoring.

"Mr Ikenouchi was saying he did not think he would survive. He said he was very cold and I told him to move his legs. I don't think Mr Ikenouchi was able to think for himself at that stage and was only responding to my comments."

Pathologist Martin Sage, who performed the autopsy on the dead climber, suggested the lack of morale and motivation by Mr Ikenouchi could have been a symptom of hypothermia.

The inquest also heard concerns about media helicopters bringing an almost false hope to the pair, though Mr McElrea said he found no evidence the outcome would have been any different had only rescue helicopters been flying around the mountain.

In his summing up, Coroner McElrae said the skill of the helicopter pilots and the rescue staff was of a "uniformly high standard, with very difficult judgement calls having to be made in very adverse conditions".


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2537376/Climber-lost-hope-days-before-death
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2009, 09:26:12 pm »


Beacon may have saved man's life

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Friday, 26 June 2009

A personal locator beacon could have saved the life of a 25-year-old Israeli tourist, who fell, crawled some distance "in agony" and then died, in the Mueller Valley in January.

A coroner's court hearing was held in Twizel yesterday into the death of Ohad Dotan, who had been on a solo tour of the country when he died in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park on January 26.

Regional Coroner Richard McElrea yesterday ruled Mr Dotan's death accidental, having fallen about 70m to 100m while trying to retrieve his backpack on a return trip from Mueller Hut.

He fell down steep bluffs on the western flanks at the northern end of the Sealy Range, below the Mueller Hut.

The internal injuries to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs were "of potentially survivable severity", but the tramper was unable to summon help because he was tramping solo and did not have a locator beacon, Mr McElrea ruled.

The court was told that after falling, Mr Dotan was most likely knocked unconscious, but woke and moved himself several metres, which would have been agonising.

Pathologist Martin Sage said Mr Dotan fractured his leg and pelvis. He also had numerous rib fractures and injuries to his liver and lungs. Why he strayed from the marked route remains unknown.

Since 1990, there have been three fatal accidents that have occurred on the Mueller track on descent.

The coroner asked the Conservation Department to consider recommendations made by professional mountaineer David Crow.

They include:


  • An informal briefing each morning by the hut warden and or additional or improved route information focusing on the descent.

  • Providing succinct route information as part of the booking process at the visitor centre.

  • Consideration to improving the trail (for route finding on descent) where Mr Dotan strayed from may be warranted.

  • Promoting the carrying of PLBs should be actively encouraged.

Death accidental

Mr McElrea also ruled the death of Australian climber Dr Mark Vinar, 43, accidental.

Mr Vinar was killed on December 11, last year, while trying to negotiate his way down an short ice step, about 4m in height and at an angle of about 40 to 45 degrees.

Mr Vinar's brother, Miles, had made the descent first, though when Mark began to descend, his ice equipment came out of the step and he fell backwards down a snow slope. He had experience climbing mountains, though may have been fatigued at the time he went to descend.

Mr Vinar's body has not been found.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2537400/Beacon-may-have-saved-mans-life
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2009, 02:50:30 pm »


Mountain training includes night drill

By MAIKE VAN DER HEIDE - The Marlborough Express | 1:00PM - Friday, 26 June 2009

LOW SPEED: Sergeant Ben Fraser of RNZAF 3 Squadron throws a smoke grenade down to the snow during the squadron's Exercise Blackbird near St Arnaud. — DEREK FLYNN/The Marlborough Express.

LOW SPEED: Sergeant Ben Fraser of RNZAF 3 Squadron throws a smoke grenade down to the snow during the squadron's Exercise Blackbird near St Arnaud. — DEREK FLYNN/The Marlborough Express.

A hunter has slipped on an icy rock face and lies seriously injured under a bluff in the isolated snow-covered mountains of the Nelson Lakes area.

It is a pitch black night when members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 3 Squadron set off to look for him.

They have no clue to the hunter's whereabouts except the hut where he last stayed. He did not write his intentions in the hut book.

An Iroquois helicopter crew scour the mountainsides until they spot the hunter, thanks to the lit display screen of his cellphone, and winch him aboard.

Luckily, the rescued man was not actually an injured hunter, but the perfectly healthy 3 Squadron's Detachment Commander, Squadron Leader Nigel Cooper.

The rescue was just one of the exercises held in the mountains near St Arnaud this week as part of Exercise Blackbird, two weeks of mountain flying training.

Based at Dip Flat, Mr Cooper said the mock rescue reflected the real Search and Rescue work often done by the RNZAF using the Iroquois fleet.

The pilots as well as the crewmen have to be adept at winching people into the helicopter. Mr Cooper said sometimes, the crewman was winched to the ground to recover a victim, meaning the co-pilot had to operate the winch.

Other training included re-supplying, tactical work and other skills needed by the crew when working in mountainous areas anywhere in the world.

Blenheim man Phil Wilson, a flight lieutenant at Exercise Blackbird as an instructor, said mountain flying came with its own challenges, not just because of the terrain but also the thinner air at high altitude, which affected the way the helicopter flew.

Mr Wilson has been in the RNZAF for a decade after a childhood dream of becoming an RNZAF pilot came true.

He said he enjoyed Exercise Blackbird but it was certainly a challenge.

The last time 3 Squadron held a full squadron training exercise at Dip Flat was last year, after an eight-year break.

Mr Cooper said that until last year, most of the squadron was deployed overseas, so "mini-Blackbirds" were held from Base Woodbourne.

Now the squadron is back to begin planning for the arrival of the air force's new NH90 helicopters, which are due late next year.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/2539013/Mountain-training-includes-night-drill
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2009, 09:51:09 pm »


Te Papa boss missing in ranges

NZPA | 8:19PM - Tuesday, 14 July 2009

MISSING: Seddon Bennington and his 54-year-old female tramping companion are missing in the snow hit Tararua Ranges in the lower North Island. — ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.

MISSING: Seddon Bennington and his 54-year-old
female tramping companion are missing in the snow
hit Tararua Ranges in the lower North Island.
— ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.


Te Papa boss missing in ranges is one of two trampers missing in the snow hit Tararua Ranges in the lower North Island.

Police have named Dr Bennington, 61, chief executive of the national museum since 2003, but would not identify his 54-year-old female tramping companion because not all her family members had been notified. However, they said she was a family friend.

A search was launched for the pair when they failed to return from a tramping trip yesterday, police spokeswoman Kim Perks said.

They were last seen on Saturday afternoon by other trampers on the track above Field Hut. Dr Bennington had tramped in the area before and as far as police were aware, they were adequately equipped.

Snow is waist-deep in some parts of the ranges, making searching difficult.

Four search teams went into the hills today, but by nightfall they had not found any sign of the missing pair.

Five more teams from Taranaki, Wellington and Masterton would join the search at first light tomorrow, with the air force assisting in getting the teams into the ranges, Ms Perks said.

Metservice forecaster Jared Barrow said the high winds, heavy rain and snow that was slowing the search was likely to continue for the next day.

"If things are lucky, most probably tomorrow evening there will more of an improvement," Mr Barrow said.

"The wind dies away, the southerlies die away and hopefully all the precipitation moves out to the east, but during the overnight period until tomorrow afternoon or evening, it's still going to be problematic weatherwise."

In 2007, Dr Bennington spoke to the Dominion Post about his fondness for the outdoors.

"My first tramps were in the Arthur's Pass area, a perfect weekend beginning late at night on a Friday, jumping off the train as it slowed around Klondike Corner," he said at the time.

"Now, with the Tararuas visible from the office window, I frequently think of the satisfaction of being away from city lights and comforts, of traversing ridges, of the sleep that comes of a day's hard exertion, and of the respect for nature and weather that goes with the terrain."

Before taking up his position at Te Papa, Dr Bennington was the director of the Carnegie Science Centre in the United States.

He has also worked as the chief executive of the Scitech Discovery Centre in Perth, Australia, the director of Otago's Early Settlers Museum in Dunedin and the director for Wellington's City Gallery.

He has a PhD in Zoology from the University of Canterbury and worked for a year with the Volunteer Service Abroad in Western Samoa.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2593898/Te-Papa-boss-missing-in-ranges
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2009, 12:01:50 am »


Te Papa boss Seddon Bennington found dead

By KAY BLUNDELL - The Dominion Post with Stuff.co.nz and NZPA | 9:32PM - Wednesday, 15 July 2009

RESCUE SQUAD: Searchers leave the Levin Showgrounds on their way to Penn Creek in the Tararua Ranges. — KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post.

         RESCUE SQUAD: Searchers leave the Levin Showgrounds on their way to Penn Creek in the Tararua Ranges.
                                                                 — KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post.


The bodies of Te Papa boss Seddon Bennington and friend Marcella Jackson were found just a kilometre away from an alpine hut that would have provided them shelter in the storm.

Police said at a press conference this afternoon that the pair, missing since Sunday, were found just off the track, about a kilometre short of Kime Hut in the Tararua Ranges.

Dr Bennington, 61, and Mrs Jackson, 54, also known as Rosie Jackson, set off from Otaki Forks on Saturday for Kime Hut, about 10 kilometres into the range, but failed to return on Sunday afternoon as planned.

Their bodies were found around 10.50am today.

The Dominion Post's reporter at the scene this afternoon saw two bodies in bags being removed. It is understood the pair were found by one of the search teams that went in last night.

The bodies were taken by hearse to Palmerston North hospital.

Police said they hoped to have all the searchers out of the area today.

Former prime minister Helen Clark was among those who today paid tribute to Te Papa chief executive Seddon Bennington, who died during a tramp in the Tararua Ranges.

Miss Clark said she was "deeply saddened" by Dr Bennington's death.

"Seddon brought an era of stability to Te Papa. Our national museum and gallery was fortunate indeed to be able to attract Seddon back to New Zealand from the United States where he had built a distinguished career," she said.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson said Dr Bennington had "served Te Papa and the people of New Zealand well".

"He brought wide international experience and leadership to the role. He was well respected and will be sorely missed."

"My deepest sympathies go to his family and the staff and board of Te Papa, and to the family of Marcella Jackson."


HUNTERS: Search team support gear is loaded aboard an RNZAF Iroquois helicopter at Levin showgrounds this morning. — WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard. TE PAPA BOSS: Te Papa head Seddon Bennington and his 54-year-old female tramping companion Marcella Jackson have been found dead. — ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.

     HUNTERS: Search team support gear is loaded aboard an RNZAF Iroquois helicopter at
             Levin showgrounds this morning (left). — WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard.
                 TE PAPA BOSS: Te Papa head Seddon Bennington and his 54-year-old female
                          tramping companion Marcella Jackson have been found dead (right).
                                             — ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post.


Their families were this morning waiting at Levin police station as the search escalated.

Four search and rescue teams comprising 14 people started searching yesterday, but stopped about 6pm when it got dark. They hunkered down in a Tararua Range hut last night after searching rugged terrain in waist-deep snow, heavy rain and high winds.

The search resumed at first light today — but early efforts to send in extra rescue teams were hampered by heavy rain, low fog and mist.

Taking advantage of a break in the weather, an Air Force Iroquois helicopter took off from Levin Showgrounds at 10.15am carrying five searchers. The rescuers were heading for Penn Creek, near Kime Hutt. A second helicopter load departed before 11.20am.

Police spokeswoman Kim Perks said conditions were "harsh" and the weather was very changeable. A cold southerly blast was expected to hit this afternoon.

Heavy cloud prevented the use of a helicopter yesterday.

Search coordinator Sergeant Noel Bigwood said conditions were not good. "There is deep snow, thick cloud. When it is raining here it is often snowing up there. It is bloody cold."

Dr Bennington was an experienced tramper and the pair were thought to be well-equipped.


FOUND: Searchers with the bodies of Dr Seddon Bennington and Marcella Jackson at the foothills of the Tararua Ranges.

 FOUND: Searchers with the bodies of Dr Seddon Bennington and Marcella Jackson at the foothills of the Tararua Ranges.

Chief executive of Te Papa since 2003, Dr Bennington had previously spoken to The Dominion Post about his fondness for the outdoors.

"My first tramps were in the Arthur's Pass area, a perfect weekend beginning late at night on a Friday, jumping off the train as it slowed around Klondike Corner," he said in 2007.

"Now, with the Tararuas visible from the office window, I frequently think of the satisfaction of being away from city lights and comforts, of traversing ridges, of the sleep that comes of a day's hard exertion, and of the respect for nature and weather that goes with the terrain."

Before taking up his position at Te Papa, Dr Bennington was the director of the Carnegie Science Centre in the United States.

He had also worked as the chief executive of the Scitech Discovery Centre in Perth, Australia, the director of Otago's Early Settlers Museum in Dunedin and the director for Wellington's City Gallery.

He had a PhD in Zoology from the University of Canterbury and worked for a year with the Volunteer Service Abroad in Western Samoa.

Mrs Jackson worked at Aotea Pathology and lives in Mount Victoria.

Aotea Pathology chief executive Karen Wood said Mrs Jackson, a medical laboratory scientist, was "a long-serving, highly-valued and respected member of staff".


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2594011/Te-Papa-boss-Seddon-Bennington-found-dead

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2594033/Te-Papa-boss-Seddon-Bennington-found-dead
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2009, 12:31:39 am »


Death in the snow

Survival hours rather than days in minus 20 degrees

By KAY BLUNDELL and TANYA KATTERNS - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Thursday, 16 July 2009

LONELY OUTPOST: Kime Hut in the Tararuas. “It was a blizzard up there,” Metservice forecaster Steve Ready said of the conditions Seddon Bennington and Marcella Jackson perished in. — BARRY DURRANT. SIGN OF SORROW: Te Papa flies the New Zealand flag at half-mast to honour Dr Bennington, its chief executive for the past six years. — PHIL REID/ The Dominion Post.

LONELY OUTPOST: Kime Hut in the Tararuas. “It was a blizzard up there,” Metservice forecaster
Steve Ready said of the conditions Seddon Bennington and Marcella Jackson perished in (left).
                                                — BARRY DURRANT.
SIGN OF SORROW: Te Papa flies the New Zealand flag at half-mast to honour Dr Bennington,
its chief executive for the past six years (right). — PHIL REID/ The Dominion Post.


As Te Papa boss Seddon Bennington and Marcella Jackson walked to their deaths in Tararua Forest Park, MetService was warning of deteriorating weather.

Just hours later, at an altitude of 1400 metres, the pair encountered 80kmh southerly winds that whipped up snow, reduced temperatures to minus 20 degrees celsius and visibility to almost zero.

"It was a blizzard up there," MetService forecaster Steve Ready said. "Trying to keep yourself upright in such atrocious conditions and with that wind-chill, it would have been horrific."

Search and rescue experts say the survival rate in such conditions without a tent would have been "hours rather than days".

Police believe Dr Bennington, 61, and his 54-year-old companion never made it to their destination, Kime Hut.

They could have died as early as Saturday afternoon, and remained covered in snow till found by searchers yesterday morning. Their bodies were just off the track, a kilometre short of the hut and about 300 metres apart.

It was unclear whether they had become separated. Neither appeared to have injuries that indicated a fall.

"It appears they were overcome by the weather conditions," Inspector Mark Harrison of Palmerston North said.

A MetService forecast posted on its website at 3.26am on Saturday warned of increasing cloud, cold southeasterlies rising to gale force, and freezing level dropping to below the pair's destination.

It is not known whether they saw it before departing from Otaki Forks. Dr Bennington was an experienced tramper and he and Mrs Jackson were thought to be well equipped. It is understood both had cellphones.

Family raised the alarm when the pair failed to return on Sunday evening. Police began their search on Monday, and it eventually grew to a 10-team, 50-strong search and rescue operation, using three helicopters to ferry in specialist search teams from as far away as Wellington and Taranaki.

The missing pair's families, who had gathered at the search base in Levin, received the news of their deaths about 11am yesterday.

Dr Bennington had been Te Papa chief executive for six years.

Michelle Hippolite, who shared strategic leadership of the museum, is now acting chief executive.

She said colleagues were devastated. "In the weekends he's out and about, so to learn that he hadn't returned and then to learn later that he'd passed away, it was a shock."

The flag outside Te Papa was lowered to half-mast yesterday, and a memorial area with a photograph and a condolence book will be set up.

Dr Bennington's wife, Frances, from whom he separated three years ago, told The Dominion Post that he was a perfectionist who loved the arts, architecture and tramping. "Where he died is where he would have wanted to die."

He would often take the couple's two sons with him.

"He took the boys tramping, they enjoyed the outdoors with him."

Wellington search and rescue adviser Wayne Stevens could not understand how such experienced trampers had lost their lives, but said if something went wrong in such rough conditions, a person was very vulnerable.

David Naulls, a friend of Mrs Jackson - who was known as Rosie — for 30 years, said she was a lovely person. "Rosie was very kind and gentle, always watching out for other people."

Mrs Jackson, a widow, was a senior medical laboratory scientist at Aotea Pathology.

Chief executive Karen Wood said she was meticulous about her work in the biochemistry department and had many close friends among the staff, who were devastated. "Professionally and personally she leaves a big gap."

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson said Dr Bennington had served Te Papa and the people of New Zealand well and would be sorely missed.

Former prime minister Helen Clark, a keen tramper, was deeply saddened. "My heart goes out to his family and the Te Papa family at this sad time."


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2597861/Death-in-the-snow
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2009, 12:31:52 am »


Memorial for museum boss opens

NZPA | 4:17PM - Thursday, 16 July 2009

MEMORIAL: The tribute to Seddon Bennington at Te Papa. — KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post.

MEMORIAL: The tribute to Seddon Bennington at Te Papa.
— KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post.


Te Papa has created a memorial to chief executive Seddon Bennington following his death in the Tararua Ranges.

The bodies of Dr Bennington, 61, and family friend Marcella Jackson, 54, were found in the snow shortly before 11am yesterday, four days after they went missing.

A written tribute and condolence book, accompanied by a portrait and flowers, opened on the museum's second floor this afternoon.

Te Papa's communications manager Jane Keig said condolences had been flowing in from around the country and overseas since Dr Bennington's death was confirmed yesterday.

The tribute would be reproduced on Te Papa's blog for people to leave condolences through comments or by emailing condolences@tepapa.govt.nz.

Te Papa's board was convening this afternoon to confirm an acting chief executive, Ms Keig said.

Dr Bennington's family were waiting for all family members to arrive in Wellington before decisions were made about a memorial service, she said.

Dr Bennington and Mrs Jackson had been in the ranges for a weekend tramp to Kime Hut but failed to return as planned on Sunday.

After more than two days of searching their bodies were found about 1km from the hut.

Although the pair were otherwise well-equipped, police said neither had carried a cell phone or locator beacon.

New Zealand Mountain Safety Council executive director Darryl Carpenter today expressed his sadness at Dr Bennington and Mrs Jackson's deaths.

He said there would be a time to reflect on what occurred and what lessons could be learnt from their deaths "in due course".


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/2600915/Memorial-for-museum-boss-opens
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« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2009, 07:42:49 pm »


Two survive icy night as rescuers wait

By WILL HINE in Queenstown - The Southland Times | 5:00AM - Monday, 20 July 2009

HANGING BY A THREAD: Alpine Cliff Rescue member Bruce Hasler, right, helps to relay-winch a climber off a ledge on the Remarkables on Sunday. — CHRIS PRUDDEN/The Southland Times.

HANGING BY A THREAD: Alpine Cliff Rescue member Bruce Hasler, right,
helps to relay-winch a climber off a ledge on the Remarkables on Sunday.
— CHRIS PRUDDEN/The Southland Times.


Two men survived minus 12 degrees celsius overnight conditions after getting stranded while climbing a peak on the Remarkables, near Queenstown, at the weekend.

Alpine Cliff Rescue team member Chris Prudden said the two men, in their 20s, had been ascending the south face of the 2319-metre Single Cone on Saturday when darkness fell.

"They certainly had plenty of kit and reasonable capability to get where they got but as darkness fell they thought better of going ahead and the climbing was quite sketchy.

"We're talking steep rock slabs with really minimal purchase and with a weak layer of snow on top."

The two men, one from Queenstown and one from Australia, decided to wait out the night on a ledge but called for help on a mobile phone about 3.30am as they began to succumb to the cold, Mr Prudden said.

Fifteen searchers were mobilised, taking to the air in a helicopter equipped with night-vision technology.

"We flew in about 5am in pitch darkness but were pushed back by strong winds, turbulence and a snowstorm," Mr Prudden said.

Searchers decided to wait for daylight, flying back into the mountain range about 8.30am.

It did not take long to find the two men, who were stuck on a notch on the south face of Single Cone.

Dropped south of the Wye Creek saddle, members of the rescue team scaled a ridge to a point above the men.

Three rescuers, including Mr Prudden, rappelled about 50 metres down to the stranded men.

It took two men to assist one of the climbers, who was unresponsive and could not stand up.

Both climbers were helped up the ridge and airlifted off the mountain about mid-morning.

Wakatipu St John acting team leader Alana Reid said the men, "shaking uncontrollably", were taken to Lakes District Hospital with mild hypothermia.

They were discharged yesterday afternoon.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2608018/Two-survive-icy-night-as-rescuers-wait
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« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2009, 07:20:50 pm »


Tourist killed by avalanche

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Saturday, 25 July 2009

UNLUCKY: Westpac Rescue Helicopter personnel arrive in Timaru with the body of an Australian tourist who died in an avalanche while heliskiing yesterday. — JEFF TOLLAN/ The Timaru Herald. FINAL ADVENTURE: The body of a 60-year-old Australian tourist avalanche victim arrives at Timaru. — JEFF TOLLAN/ The Timaru Herald.

      UNLUCKY: Westpac Rescue Helicopter personnel arrive in Timaru with the body of an
                  Australian tourist who died in an avalanche while heliskiing yesterday (left).
                                  FINAL ADVENTURE: The body of a 60-year-old Australian
                                        tourist avalanche victim arrives at Timaru (right).
                                                  — JEFF TOLLAN/ The Timaru Herald.


In just six minutes, the life of an Australian tourist came to a tragic end after an avalanche in the Ragged Range, near Methven, yesterday.

The large avalanche, which happened about 1pm, measured about 200 metres wide and contained about 100 metric tonnes of debris. It was one of many predicted for mountain areas and completely buried the 60-year-old man and partially buried two other tourists, his friends.

Senior Constable Brent Swanson of the Tekapo police said the party were being guided by two staff members from Alpine Guides and were skiing off-piste.

In an interview with The Timaru Herald last night, he confirmed the deceased man was an Australian tourist.

A short time after the tourist's body had been flown by helicopter to Timaru, the man's overseas family were being informed of his death.

Tony Ward, an advanced paramedic who helped retrieve the body, said conditions were "beautiful". "[It was] a very, very nice day for off-piste skiing. It's just a tragedy, really. Very experienced skiers, good guides, and it's just one of those things."

Mr Ward said the terrain was steep, in the mountains at the head of the Rakaia Gorge.

Rescuers had to wade through deep snow from the avalanche, which stretched for more than 100 metres, he said. "It was a large slide, up to about our waist when we were walking through it... It's just unfortunate he wasn't able to make it."

The fatal avalanche began as the three clients were skiing down a slope, Mr Swanson said.

"One of the guides skied down and stopped and waited. Three clients have then skied down towards him and a substantial-sized avalanche has been released."

Both guides worked frantically to uncover their clients, but were unsuccessful in their efforts to revive the third man. Despite being buried the deepest, in 1½ metres of powered snow, the guides took only minutes to reach him, Mr Swanson said.

"Both guides have worked and got all three out within six minutes, but unfortunately the man who was completely submerged was unable to be revived.

"The guides are well trained in this situation and they've obviously done a good job of getting the clients out."

Alpine Guides, one of the most respected heli-skiing companies in the South Island, had not had a fatality for two decades and staff were shaken by the death.

Police, the Labour Department and the Mountain Safety Council were investigating. The coroner would investigate the cause of the man's death.

Mountain Safety Council avalanche programme manger Steve Schreiber said the heli-skiing company had assessed the avalanche risk was high, but it was not unusual to take people out anyway.

"I think the way they manage the situation is to alter the degree of the terrain. They used the very simple terrain process [yesterday] and they were using low-angled slopes," he told Radio New Zealand.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/2673080/Tourist-killed-by-avalanche



Avalanche man shut himself down to survive

The Sydney Morning Herald | 9:02AM - Saturday, 25 July 2009

SURVIVOR: Prominent Melbourne real estate agent John Castran after being buried by an avalanche that killed another Australian.

SURVIVOR: Prominent Melbourne real estate agent John Castran
after being buried by an avalanche that killed another Australian.


At first Melbourne multi-millionaire John Castran thought he had escaped the avalanche unscathed, unaware that metres away his Sydney skiing companion was dead.

Buried under more than 1.8 metres of snow on a New Zealand mountain range, Mr Castran, 53, could still move his arms and legs. But then the snow shifted and he was crushed.

Pinned beneath the overwhelming weight of what moments earlier had been featherweight powder snow, Mr Castran realised he did not have enough oxygen to yell for help.

The real estate agent survived the avalanche at Ragged Range, near Methven, west of Christchurch, yesterday, but a NSW businessman, 61, whose name has not been made public, was killed.

As Mr Castran ran out of air, he too thought he would perish under the ice. "You choke with the snow, you can't breathe, you're suffocating … it's like being poured into plaster of Paris. The only thing I could move was my tongue, to push the snow away from in front of my mouth."

"I thought: ‘I've only got a little bit of air here, I've just got to use all the air very, very carefully’. So I just shut myself down totally."

Mr Castran had been on a heli-skiing trip with his son Angus, 23, as well as the NSW man and two guides from the tour company Alpine Guides.

The snow had been perfect, the sky clear blue, and the group had completed four ski runs before their chartered helicopter dropped them at the remote Arrowsmith Ranges.

"It's one of the most spectacular places you've ever seen, absolutely breathtaking country up in the ranges about 6000 to 8500 feet [2600 metres] above sea level," Mr Castran said.

The man who was killed when the avalanche hit about 1pm had said to Mr Castran: "You don't get much closer to heaven than this."

The first guide skied ahead of the group to check for danger, then signalled for the men to follow.

"I was skiing down and all of a sudden the whole side of the mountain just let go," Mr Castran said.

"I thought I might be able to out-ski it and ski off to the side, but the whole thing was happening so quickly and the snow went straight over the top of me."

A dull rumble like thunder signalled that avalanche warnings issued for the area that day had been accurate.

"The first thing that comes over you is just this incredible adrenalin, and you want to scream. But if I screamed I was going to use up too much oxygen," Mr Castran said.

"I thought: ‘I've just got to be smart’. And I was very lucky that I could just turn my mind off and put myself into another place."

As the air drained away it became "frighteningly peaceful" under the snow. About 30 metres from where Mr Castran lay, his son had dug himself out from waist-high snow and was using a search and rescue beacon to find his father.

Angus said the tour group had been trained by guides to find each other using beacons they had pinned to their chests.

One of the guides was able to find the dead man within five minutes. He was free within "seven to eight" minutes, but efforts to revive him failed.

A tour guide and director of Methven Heliski, Kevin Boekholt, said: "He was around a metre down and he had his head up and he had no snow in his mouth. He was under the snow but there's a lot of air in snow. He shouldn't have died."

It took Angus and the second guide about 15 minutes to find Mr Castran's position. They used avalanche probes to feel for him beneath the snow and a rescue shovel to dig him out.

Angus said he feared the worst when they pulled his father from the snow, unconscious and blue.

Speaking from a motel room last night, Mr Castran said he was uninjured apart from a black eye and having "the stuffing taken out" of him.

He said he and his son were experienced heliskiers and their companion, who they had met that day, regularly travelled the world for the adventure of the high-risk sport.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2673969/Avalanche-man-shut-himself-down-to-survive
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« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2009, 04:39:27 pm »


Anniversary ascent suffers windy blow

By CRIS JOHNSTON in Wanaka - The Southland Times | 4:34PM - Wednesday, 25 November 2009

BONAR GLACIER & MOUNT ASPIRING
                                              BONAR GLACIER & MOUNT ASPIRING

Mother Nature has scuttled the best laid plans of three mountaineers with gales forcing them to the postpone a celebratory ascent of Mount Aspiring for the second day.

Three mountaineers, Whitney Thurlow and Gavin Lang, of Aspiring Guides, and their Peruvian client Aritza Monasterio were to have left Wanaka for French Ridge Hut on Sunday aiming to re-enact on Monday the first ascent of the 3033m peak by Englishman Major Bernard Head, who reached the summit on November 23 1909.

There had been a backup plan to summit yesterday but Aspiring Guides director Andy Oxley said the weather window was too tight.

"There are winds of up to 120km/h on the tops and the mountain forecast is much the same for the rest of the week, with winds up to 130km/h for the next few days and an approaching front," Ms Oxley said.

"It's a shame but we don't want them blown off the top."

To celebrate the anniversary the men had planned to use early 20th century climbing apparel and equipment and to follow the same route as Major Head and his two guides, Jack Clarke and Alex Graham, crossing the Bonar Glacier from French Ridge and reaching the summit via the west face.

This week's climb was to be the first in New Zealand for Mr Monasterio and would have marked the beginning of celebrations for the Mount Aspiring/Titiea anniversary.

The celebrations will culminate in a function at the Lake Wanaka Centre on Saturday.

Hosted by the New Zealand Alpine Club and the Department of Conservation, the evening will include several speakers including Mt Aspiring Station owner John Aspinall, mountaineer Geoff Wyatt, and Wanaka musician Martin Curtis.

A slideshow and footage of archival material will also be shown during the evening, which starts at 7.30pm.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3096924/Anniversary-ascent-suffers-windy-blow
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« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2009, 06:39:03 pm »

It seems a lot of tourists came here to die  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2009, 12:37:19 pm »


Aspiring ascent centenary recalled

CRIS JOHNSTON in Wanaka - The Southland Times | Monday, 30 November 2009

Wanaka's "Big Fellow" came out from behind the clouds on Saturday with almost 400 people celebrating the centenary of the first ascent of Mount Aspiring/Tititea.

Mountaineers, farmers, extreme skiers, search and rescue personnel, builders and government officials all took centre-stage in the Lake Wanaka Centre to share memories of the mountain before a backdrop of archival slide and film footage and photographic displays.

Organised by the New Zealand Alpine Club Otago section, the evening was punctuated by readings from the diary of British mountaineer Major Bernard Head detailing his historic west-face ascent of the 3033m peak on November 23, 1909.

Farmer John Aspinall, of Mount Aspiring Station, said his family had been associated with the mountain since 1929 with his grandfather, Jack Aspinall, the first member to reach the summit.

"I call it ‘The Big Fellow’ and have huge respect for the mountain," said Mr Aspinall, who climbed Aspiring last year.

"There should be no fixed aids but there is no room for ambivalence — you are entirely on its (the mountain's) terms."

With Mount Aspiring National Park now attracting 80,000 visitors a year, he and his wife Sue were well used to people contacting them at "every hour of the day or night" with queries about weather, road conditions, access to the mountains or needing help with stranded vehicles.

While extreme skier Geoff Small captivated the audience with details of his ski descent of the West Face 15 years ago, Wanaka motelier Bill Durry recalled the 1948 expedition to build Aspiring Hut.

"I was an 18-year-old apprentice carpenter ... Stone was carried on our shoulders from the Matukituki River," Mr Durry said.

Well-known Wanaka mountaineer and guide Geoff Wyatt, who has climbed Mount Aspiring 80 times, said he feared the mountain could be "loved to death" as access into the region became easier, especially with helicopter flights into base huts. "It is a mountaineer's mountain and it's important to retain that sense of adventure."

Adventure Consultants director Guy Cotter acknowledged Aspiring's "high attrition rate" of 30 fatalities, 13 since 1987, and led a 10-second remembrance for those who have died on the mountain.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3107777/Aspiring-ascent-centenary-recalled
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« Reply #12 on: December 01, 2009, 12:39:37 pm »


Meanwhile, Gerry “GREEDY” Brownlee is secretly planing (in association with his big-business mining mates) to wreck the high country (all in the interests of Nats' greed), but he doesn't want you to know about it just yet....



Greens, alpinists fear national-park mines

By PAUL GORMAN - The Press | 5:00AM - Tuesday, 01 October 2009

GERRY BROWNLEE

Mount Aspiring National Park could be carved up for mining, the Green Party says.

Yesterday, the party released what it said were comments and a recommendation from Ministry of Economic Development officials that close to 20 per cent of the 350,000-hectare national park should have its protection against mining removed.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee rubbished claims that mining was about to be allowed in national parks. "This is alarming nonsense by the Green Party."

The Government remained committed to its "stocktake" of mineral deposits on conservation land, with public consultation scheduled to follow next year, he said.

"What the Greens are speculating on, who knows? There are documents floating around. I haven't received a report at this point," Brownlee said.


National's Park

Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand accused the Government of considering the "dismembering" of Mount Aspiring National Park, created by a National government in 1964.

Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said the new information flew in the face of previous Government claims that any mining would be of small areas of low-value conservation land.

The officials recommended that parts of the Red Hills area in the west of the park and land in the northeast be removed from schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act.

The act bans mining access to 13 per cent of New Zealand's land, including its highest-value conservation land.

The officials' advice said the area had high mineral potential, including gold, chromium, tungsten and nickel.

"The geology suggests that the park area is prospective for at least 11 different types of mineral deposits.

"However, because of the national park status of the area since 1964, there has been little modern geochemical exploration of the area to assist in assessing its prospectivity," officials said.

Turei said removing mining protection from one-fifth of the country's third-largest national park was "unbelievable and economically short-sighted".

"This is the first evidence that suggests an area of a national park is being seriously considered for mining, but I understand there are another six similar proposals for national parks," she said. "It proves the Government hasn't been telling the truth. What else are they keeping from the public?

"The option is for the community to send a very clear message to say schedule 4 is out of bounds.

It's public pressure that will make the difference here," Turei said.


Gerry Brownlee's “Old Bullshit Mine”

]Brownlee said the Cabinet would consider the stocktake report early next year, followed by consultation, and decisions towards the middle of the year.

"We have no intention of destroying the conservation estate," he said.

Federated Mountain Clubs president Rob Mitchell found out about the proposal last week and spent the weekend "brooding over it".

"The Government hasn't got any firm agreement at this stage, but just the fact that Gerry Brownlee and the conservation minister [Tim Groser] have been actively trying to hose everything down ... this just shows there's an absolute contradiction," he said. "Is the minister telling the truth or is he just being selective? I think he's being caught out. I want to hear him say ‘no mining’."

Mining in areas of such convoluted geology had been "proven time and time again to be uneconomic", Mitchell said.

"It is my hope that there will be such strenuous opposition the Government has to drop the idea."


http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3111933/Greens-alpinists-fear-national-park-mines



Mount Aspiring National Park in danger — Greens

By DAVE WOOD - The Southland Times with The Press | 5:00AM - Tuesday, 01 October 2009

Gerry Brownlee's “Cleanish & Greenish”

Mount Aspiring National Park could be carved up for mining, the Green Party says.

The party yesterday released what it said were comments and a recommendation from Economic Development Ministry officials that almost 20 per cent of the 350,000ha national park should have its protection against mining removed.

"The rumble of Brownlee's bulldozers just got louder," said Greens co-leader Metiria Turei.

"Not only are ministers planning to allow mining in our national parks, but they are considering removing the protection against mining from large areas of them.

"This flies in the face of previous claims by ministers that mining national parks is not their intention, and that any mining would be of small areas of low-value conservation land."


Mrs Turei said removing mining protection from one-fifth of the third-largest national park was unbelievable and economically short-sighted.

Mining in Mount Aspiring National Park would not only be a blow to the tourism industry, but could endanger the area's World Heritage status, she said.

But Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee rubbished the claims.


Assurances from Gerry Brownlee

The Government remained committed to its "stocktake" of mineral deposits on conservation land, with public consultation scheduled to follow next year, he said.

"What the Greens are speculating on, who knows? There are documents floating around. I haven't received a report at this point," Mr Brownlee said.

It was no secret the Government had been having discussions about the possibility of mining on the conservation estate.

"When we have a position we will release it for consultation."

Mr Brownlee said the continuing discussions meant nothing until proposals were put out for public discussion.

He said Mrs Turei's comments lacked integrity and he didn't know where she had got her information.

"She is being unduly meddlesome. There is no intention of destroying the conservation estate."

He also said that while the Greens were good friends of the Labour government, there were 82 mining operations on the conservation estate.

According to Mrs Turei, Government officials have said the following on Mount Aspiring National Park: This area is home to the only known carbonatite deposits in New Zealand, making it a potential deposition zone for REEs (rare earth elements). There are several known mineral occurrences within the park, including showings of gold, chromium and nickel.

The geology suggests that the park area is prospective for at least 11 different types of mineral deposits.

However, because of the national park status of the area since 1964, there has been little modern geochemical exploration of the area to assist in assessing its prospectivity.In particular, the land in the northeast corner of Mount Aspiring National Park has high mineral prospectivity, particularly in respect of tungsten and REEs.

It is therefore recommended that the northeast sector of the national park (the part which approximates the known extent of the carbonatite formations, and which amounts to about 20 per cent of the land area of the park) be considered for removal from Schedule Four (which protects the park from mining).


http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3112012/Mount-Aspiring-National-Park-in-danger-Greens
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« Reply #13 on: December 02, 2009, 09:17:04 pm »


From the Otago Daily Times

Inspiring Aspiring century

By MATTHEW HAGGART - Otago Daily Times Wanaka News | Monday, 30 November 2009

The 3033m-high peak of Mount Aspiring has captivated climbers for the past 100 years. — Photo by Matthew Haggart.

The 3033m-high peak of Mount Aspiring has captivated climbers for the past 100 years. — Photo by Matthew Haggart.

Climbers, trampers, runholders, artists and people who simply admire Mount Aspiring came together in Wanaka on Saturday night to celebrate 100 years since the first ascent of Otago's highest mountain.

The 3033m-high summit of Mount Aspiring has captivated climbers, since Major Bernard Head of England and his New Zealand guides, Alec Graham and Jack Clarke first made it to the top on November 23, 1909.

The mountain, named Tititea by Maori for its "glistening peak", has also played a significant role in people's lives as a recreational asset, a high-country farming area, and an inspiration to artists down through the years.

A variety of featured speakers gave personal accounts about the different ways in which Mount Aspiring had influenced their backgrounds.

Mount Aspiring Station runholder John Aspinall spoke of his family's life farming the mountain valleys of the area, while Wanaka man Bill Durry gave a humorous account of his time as an 18-year-old helping to build huts for climbers and trampers keen to access the scenic wilderness.

Mountain guide Guy Cotter, of Lake Hawea, led a short remembrance tribute for the people who have died, either climbing Mount Aspiring, or while tramping in the 3555 square-kilometre Mount Aspiring National Park.

Wanaka artist and climber Martin Hill, of Wanaka, talked of the inspiration that the mountain gave to people, while also recounting the sadness it could also inflict, such as when his close friend and climbing companion John Pawson was killed in an accident last November.

Mr Hill showed a short film, featuring different images of the mountain and dedicated to Mr Pawson.

One of New Zealand's foremost mountain climbers, Allen Uren, of Wanaka, also spoke at length about the challenge and meaning to life the mountain gave him, as did Wanaka guide and veteran Mount Aspiring climber Geoff Wayatt.

Imagery played an important part during the evening's two-hour-long session.

A photography competition, with the mountain as its subject, was judged by Mr Hill and Wanaka photographer Gilbert Van Reenan.

It was won by Iain Guillard, with Michael Archer, second, and Lake Hawea glaciologist Trevor Chin third.

Lake Hawea man Geoff Small, one of New Zealand's leading exponents of big mountain skiing, also delighted the crowd with a tale about climbing the mountain to ski the western face of the peak.


http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/wanaka/83912/inspiring-aspiring-century
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« Reply #14 on: December 02, 2009, 09:20:48 pm »


From the Otago Daily Times

‘I believe he climbed the mountain’

By MARJORIE COOK - Otago Daily Times National News | Tuesday, 01 December 2009

Who was first? William Gilbert Mouat may have been the first man to climb Mount Aspiring, making the ascent with a companion in 1882, according to family.

Who was first? William Gilbert Mouat may have been the first man to climb Mount Aspiring, making the ascent with a companion in 1882, according to family.

The Department of Conservation's claim Major Bernard Head and his two New Zealand guides — Jack Clarke and Alec Graham — were the first to ascend Mount Aspiring 100 years ago has been challenged by Dunedin man Michael Broad, who says his relative did it 27 years earlier.

Mr Broad (80) contacted DOc after reading Otago Daily Times articles about last weekend's Mount Aspiring centenary celebrations and offered information about his great-uncle William Gilbert Mouat's ascent on March 17, 1882, with companion Tom Mantell.

DOC's Wanaka area manager Paul Hellebrekers is now calling for more information to clarify Mr Broad's claim.

"It is a really intriguing account and one that DOC would like to follow up on.

We are looking for any details relating to it and hopefully other information may come to light as a result of media coverage," Mr Helle-brekers said yesterday.

"This account in no way lessens the remarkable achievement of Bernard Head and his party back in 1909 and it will remain the first certified ascent of the mountain, at this time," he said.

Mr Broad is keen to have his great-uncle's climb recognised.

"For years, I don't know how many — before emails — I used to write to mountaineers to try and find someone to take interest. But no-one was concerned," Mr Broad said.

Gilbert Mouat was born in Purakaunui in 1833, making him 18 when the reported ascent took place.

He died in Devonport in 1956.

Mr Broad said he was given a typewritten account of his great-uncle Gilbert's memoirs by a second cousin, Nicky Taylor.

The typewritten transcript is believed to be a first copy of an earlier handwritten memoir.

Mr Broad does not know where the original document is.

The Hocken Library has the typewritten document, he said.

Mr Broad has retyped the memoir into his computer and made some amendments and corrections.

Mr Mouat's memoir, as reported by Mr Broad, describes a mission with Tom Mantell to fix a trig on the top of Mount Aspiring on March 17, 1882.

They had fine weather and took a light pole each, a small pick and a length of rope.

They took a northwest ridge and experienced considerable difficulty in the frozen snow.

They were novices at ice climbing, so were roped together and went carefully.

They reached the summit at noon, where they enjoyed the view and built a cairn next to which they buried a bottle containing their names on paper.

Mr Broad believes Gilbert's wife Mary, a conchologist (shell collector) and explorer, could have penned her husband's memoirs, as she enjoyed writing.

Mr Broad was 17 when he first met Gilbert Mouat, in 1947, and was instantly taken by his stories and his aura.

He acquired the draft memoir, titled "Devonport Ahoy!", much later.

"He had no need to embellish or impress; therefore I totally believe that he climbed the mountain," Mr Broad said of his great-uncle.

Mr Broad said he knew nothing about Tom Mantell, the partner in Mr Mouat's climb, and had not been able to trace him.

William Gilbert Mouat, known as Gilbert, was the grandson of Motoitoi (Ngai Tahu) and Richard Driver, Otago Harbour's first pilot.

Motoitoi's daughter Maria Mouat was Gilbert's mother and Mr Broad's great-grandmother.

Gilbert was variously a goldminer and a surveyor.

He married Mary Foord, the daughter of an engineer who worked on the Bullendale scheme near Skippers Canyon.


http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/84056/039i-believe-he-climbed-mountain039
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« Reply #15 on: December 07, 2009, 05:48:39 pm »


Cold spell needed for Mount Cook

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Monday, 07 December 2009

Hot weather is threatening a thriving climbing season in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

Alpine guides say their books are bulging with customers, domestic and international, but Conservation Department staff are praying for a cold snap to hit the area in the coming weeks.

Ranger Ray Bellringer said a storm from the south would prolong the climbing season. Without it, large crevasses in glaciers open up, the risk of rockfall increases, routes become more challenging and climbing or guiding will eventually become impossible.

"If we get another hot period then the season would be over by the middle of January. We've been in the equinox for some weeks, [it has been] raining, nor'west and windy. There were some reasonable amounts of snow around, but it's melted back quite a bit," Mr Bellringer said.

Police Mid-South Canterbury Area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin urged any climbers to use common sense and climb when the conditions were right.

He said each season, search and rescue teams were put at risk, rescuing "foolhardy" people who tried to climb in bad weather, or who climbed areas that were beyond their experience.

However, guides in the area have said there has been no shortage of people booking with them, to take advantage of the skills of people who know the park well.

One of the area's largest guiding companies, Alpine Guides, has a 10 per cent increase in bookings for this season, filling the diary until January 20.

Managing director Bryan Carter said between 180 to 200 people had booked in for the summer season, with the Australian market still going strong.

"[People are choosing] short haul travel more than long haul. A lot of people have decided it has been a bit of a tough year, so they're going to take a break."

Dave McKinley of Mountains New Zealand said while the weather had been "playing games", it was still good to be out in the hills and there was no shortage of business.

"We are pretty heavily booked through to almost March, it's quite a healthy season. For the start of the season, the conditions are better than last year," he said.

Whether climbers had a guide or not , Mr Gaskin said police and DOC staff were unable to stop them, which made it important to keep a close eye on the weather. He estimated there would be 20 or 30 rescues from the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park every year and three or four deaths. Rescue or recovery missions were not a nice part of the job, Mr Gaskin added.

"People who fall off mountains are generally knocked about. You're falling down a hill and when your body comes into contact with some unforgiving objects ... it's difficult."

He said the region's police had an annual budget of about $30,000 for helicopter SAR operations and while there was no such thing as a "standard" rescue, an average cost of getting someone off the mountain was about $2000 to $5000, not including costs to DOC and police staff.

ACC picked up a large part of the bill for rescues, if there was an injury involved. People only had to pay the helicopter bill if they decided they could not carry on their journey and wanted to be airlifted out, rather than walk.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3131118/Cold-spell-needed-for-Mt-Cook
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« Reply #16 on: January 02, 2010, 10:33:15 am »


Zero-risk approach would kill industry, say outdoor guides

By MARTIN JOHNSTON - The New Zealand Herald | 4:00AM - Saturday, January 02, 2010

Guides say eliminating all the hazards of outdoor guiding would kill the industry. — Photo: Simon Baker.

Guides say eliminating all the hazards of outdoor guiding would kill the industry. — Photo: Simon Baker.

The outdoor guiding industry needs to make greater efforts to control hazards, the Labour Department says in a report on the death of a guide on Aoraki/Mount Cook.

The report on the death of Anton Wopereis on New Year's Day 2008 says that while the industry is committed to safety, it seems resistant to the requirement to take all practicable steps to eliminate or at least minimise the risk of harm from significant hazards.

Instead, the report says, the likelihood of serious harm is "factored in" by the industry as part of an approach based on risk management. This "tacit failure" to fully comply with the Health and Safety in Employment Act is a "lost opportunity" for the industry.

But guides say eliminating all the hazards would kill the industry.

"There needs to be recognition that there is inherent risk in adventure tourism, and managing those risks as opposed to trying to eliminate them," said Aspiring Guides' chief guide, Whitney Thurlow.

"It's easy to eliminate them totally and not go. But we choose to go; we choose to put ourselves in harm's way.

It's just a matter of how much risk people are willing to take."

The report, obtained under the Official Information Act, highlights the conflict between the requirement for employers and the self-employed to take all practicable steps to prevent harm — and the risks that are part of the attraction of adventure activities such as mountaineering.

A department spokesman said this issue would be covered by the review of adventure and outdoor tourism ordered by Prime Minister John Key and scheduled to report by March 31.

Mr Wopereis, 54, an internationally qualified guide contracted to Aspiring Guides, died after falling from the Summit Rocks of Aoraki/Mount Cook when a slab of snow and ice collapsed. He was attached by a 60m rope to an anchor fixed to the mountainside, to which his client was also attached.

He climbed above the anchor without asking the client to belay him (feed the rope through a friction device). He fell the rope-length below the anchor.

Guides vary in whether they are belayed at this point on the mountain and it is unclear why Mr Wopereis chose not to be belayed.

A report for the department by outdoor safety auditor and climber Ray Goldring says the reasons could have included Mr Wopereis' level of climbing confidence, the speed at which he and his client were travelling, and the client's disposition.

"There are no ‘guidelines’ which state that a guide must undertake a type of practice at any given time/place on any mountain anywhere in the world. This expectation would be both impracticable and unrealistic," Mr Goldring says.

"There was no breach of safety standards/practices by either Anton or the company."

Mr Thurlow said guides were more inclined, since Mr Wopereis' death, to ask their clients to belay at more dangerous places.

But the job inevitably involved climbing at times without a belay on slopes where a fall would be fatal. Telling guides to avoid taking all such risks would make alpine guiding impossible, Mr Thurlow said.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10618095
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« Reply #17 on: January 05, 2010, 12:49:36 pm »


Editorial: A law can not eliminate risk on mountains

New Zealand Herald Editorial | 4:00AM - Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The New Zealand Herald

On New Year's Day two years ago, a South Island mountaineer, Anton Wopereis, fell and died on Mount Cook while taking what sounds like a calculated risk. He was an experienced climber, a guide, and was roped to a client when he decided to climb above their anchor peg without a "belay" (a precaution in which the client would feed the rope through a friction device that would check a fall).

Because Mr Wopereis worked for a guiding company, Aspiring Guides, his death was investigated by the Labour Department under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. The department's conclusions, obtained under the Official Information Act and reported in the Weekend Herald, illustrates the dangers of applying today's excessive safety principles to our adventure industry.

The department chides the industry for resisting a requirement to take all practicable steps to eliminate or at least minimise the risk of harm. It complains that the industry prefers to manage risks rather than try to eliminate them. Eliminating them may be the language of the act but it is not a practical rule for mountaineering or many other outdoor adventures.

As the chief guide for Aspiring Guides told the Weekend Herald, "It's easy to eliminate risks totally and not go.

But we choose to go; we choose to put ourselves in harm's way."

The department's report acknowledges the conflict between the law as it stands and the attraction of activities that involve risk. The issue is being examined in a review of adventure tourism undertaken for Prime Minister John Key and due by March 31. But if the Wopereis decision is an indication of the Labour Department's contribution to the review, wiser counsels must prevail.

The department has no idea why the guide decided not to use a belay at that point of the climb, nor does the client or the department's consultant. The client said he was not given a reason and an outdoor safety auditor, Ray Goldring, an experienced climber, makes no criticism of the decision.

"There are no guidelines," Mr Goldring told the officials, "which state a guide must undertake a type of practice at any given time or place on any mountain anywhere in the world. This expectation would would be both impractical and unrealistic." He trusts that a mountaineer of 54-year-old Mr Wopereis' experience would have had good reason for deciding not to belay.

Despite that advice the department concluded that the deceased failed to take all practicable steps to prevent harm to himself and its report attempts to reconcile the principles of risk management and risk elimination with some classic gobbledegook. "The mountain guiding industry," says its report, "still has an opportunity to further and actively blend these two approaches to better ensure that a holistic best practice safety and health system will prevail ..."

The industry should do nothing of the kind. Any attempt to eliminate risk would eliminate the industry. Conceivably it would be possible to rig a mountain with so many ladders and pulleys and nets that it could be climbed in complete safety. But who would bother?

Managing risk is the most the mountain guiding industry should have to do. It hires guides who know the ropes and puts clients through drills to ensure they are up to it. After that, it is a matter of applying skills and judgment to the conditions the climbers find. No code of best practice can dictate what they must do in every situation they might find.

Accidents will happen and they should be considered a known hazard the participants have willingly faced. We have taken health and safety too far. Adventurers who challenge the prevailing law restore our spirit.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10618374
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« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2010, 11:11:12 pm »


Fatality free climbing season

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Wednesday, 14 April 2010

For the first time in 17 years, the busiest climbing period in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park has passed without a fatality.

From November to the end of March, climbers and trampers flood into the park, home of New Zealand's highest peak, at 3754 metres.

Not only are they the busiest months, they can also be the most deadly. Since the last "busy" period without a death — the five months from November 1992 — 60 climbers have perished in the park.

Department of Conservation ranger Ray Bellringer said it was impossible to predict the number of incidents that may occur. In the past, freak rockfalls, avalanches, bad weather, or a climber simply losing footing had caused deaths.

"It's just one of these things," Mr Bellringer said. "The year before last we had two accidents before Christmas and those were high elevations."

Two of the deadliest busy periods in the park's history were in 1976-77 when 12 people died and 2003-04, when there were 10 fatalities.

However while the death toll for this busy period has been nil, Mr Bellringer said the number of search and rescue (SAR) jobs was up on previous years.

Since November, the DOC mountain rescue team had 36 SAR callouts, "well up" on previous years; though they were at a lower altitude — reflecting the large number of people using lower routes, like that to the Mueller Hut.

The two highest SAR operations since November were at mid-altitude level — on La Perouse and Mount Edgar Thomson.

"It has been a busy season for Mueller. The high climbing season definitely wound down two or three weeks ago, but the park is still quite busy, especially around the Mueller Hut.

"That will probably stay the same for the next 10 days or two weeks."

Mr Bellringer said the numbers could have been boosted by the recession, with "Kiwis and Aussies" choosing to tour areas closer to home.

However, he said there would soon be a "gear change" into the winter season, where other climbers and alpine skiers would visit the area.

One French tourist, who completed the challenge with a group in December, blogged that the experience was "amazing".

"We were fortunate to have at least two days of good weather and good conditions, maybe even a bit too warm for good snow on the Zurbriggen Ridge ..."

"The emotion is intense after climbing for over 10 hours. This is an awesome day."

"The two other teams make their way up and we all share the joy after the effort and the beauty of the scenery over the Southern Alps, Mount Tasman, the sea and the glacier."

Each year about 300,000 people from around the globe take the long, but scenic journey to the Mount Cook village and about 230,000 of them call into the visitor centre in the heart of the village.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3579190/Fatality-free-climbing-season
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« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2010, 01:52:59 pm »


High honour for rescue legend

Staff Reporters - The Timaru Herald | 5:00AM - Friday, 23 April 2010

HARD WORK REWARDED: Don Bogie has been recognised for his work in developing the search and rescue arm of the Department of Conservation, and for his alpine rescue work in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
HARD WORK REWARDED: Don Bogie has been recognised
for his work in developing the search and rescue arm of the
Department of Conservation, and for his alpine rescue work
in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.


After decades of helping others, a mainstay of the search and rescue (SAR) movement has been recognised.

A technical support manager for the Department of Conservation (DOC), Don Bogie has been carved into the memory of the hundreds of people he has rescued. On Wednesday he was presented with a New Zealand Search and Rescue Council award for his efforts.

Mr Bogie started in SAR in 1979, in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and rescued a number of people before moving on to Tongariro National Park in 1987, where he stayed until 1995.

He was nominated for the award by his former colleagues at Mount Cook, for his services, leadership and dedication to search and rescue in New Zealand over 20 years; in particular his contribution to the alpine rescue team at Mount Cook.

"For those of us involved in rescue work during [the early 1980s] Don, as senior team leader, set incredibly high standards and was very analytical in his approach," Mount Cook DOC ranger Ray Bellringer said.

Mr Bogie played an instrumental part in devising rescue manuals and developed the fixed strop, which provided a fast, efficient and safe rescue of climbers stuck in precarious locations. "When I started doing Alpine rescues there were no locator beacons, cellphones or sat phones, or even any private radios.

"Emergency calls were usually made when someone was overdue, so most people were either dead or stable when we got to them. These days, callouts often happen within minutes of the accidents and rescuers now often have more complex medical scenarios to deal with."

One of Mr Bogie's most high-profile rescues was that of Mark Inglis and Phil Doole in 1982.

Both men were trapped high up Mount Cook, in an area that became known as Middle Peak Hotel and Mr Inglis said his enduring memory of Mr Bogie was his "beautiful face" as he crawled in to save the pair after 14 days stuck on the mountain.

Mr Bogie's advice for climbers was to have fun buy "know what risks you are taking".


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3614107/High-honour-for-rescue-legend
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« Reply #20 on: May 06, 2010, 11:56:37 pm »


Rescue attempts delayed

Sick climber stuck on Tasman Glacier

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald | 5:35PM - Thursday, 06 May 2010

Weather has preventing an alpine rescue team from reaching an injured climber in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park this afternoon.

It is now too late for search and rescue teams to reach the 34-year-old climber, who is thought to have a collapsed lung.

Twizel police senior constable Les Andrew said the man reported having breathing difficulties and a search and rescue operation began about 12.20pm to try and airlift him out.

The man is located at Kelman Hut, which is at an altitude of 2460 metres (8070 feet), at the head of the Tasman Glacier, however winds have picked up and have made any rescue attempt today impossible.

Department of Conservation staff remain in contact with the man and two search and rescue team members were dropped off lower down the glacier about 3.30pm. They were due to reach Kelman Hut about 5.30pm and are carrying oxygen and pain relief to help the injured climber.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/3665221/Rescue-attempts-delayed



Climber stuck for night with collapsed lung

NZPA | 9:27AM - Thursday, 06 May 2010

A climber thought to have a collapsed lung is spending the night in the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park after strong winds made an air rescue impossible today.

The 34-year-old man had reached the head of the Tasman Glacier at about midday when he started having difficulty breathing, Twizel police said.

He used a Department of Conservation phone at the Kelman Hut to raise the alarm, Radio New Zealand reported.

Two rescue workers have been dropped off at the glacier with oxygen and pain relief, and will spend the night with the man.

Rescue efforts will resume tomorrow morning, weather permitting.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3667282/Climber-stuck-for-night-with-collapsed-lung
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« Reply #21 on: May 06, 2010, 11:58:02 pm »


Tasman Saddle
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Magoo
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« Reply #22 on: May 07, 2010, 07:52:49 am »

give him the bill.
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« Reply #23 on: May 07, 2010, 02:48:13 pm »

give him the bill.

What?

For getting hurt or sick?

I hope nobody ever takes that cold-hearted attitude if you ever get hurt or sick anywhere away from your home!
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Magoo
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« Reply #24 on: May 07, 2010, 03:32:09 pm »

There are people on hospital waiting lists and in some cases have been there for years for illnessess or maladies that are not self inflicted.  This goose takes himself up a mountain, gets into trouble, hollers and help is at hand.   Yes give him the bill.
I have a very warm heart for those who are worthy of it.
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