Tararua Rescue on southern crossing

Hmmmm, if you can afford a beacon then perhaps you can also afford a GPS, maybe a map and compass? Seems to be a few incidents over the years occurring near Kime.

si-dog "*... if you can afford a beacon then perhaps you can also afford a GPS, maybe a map and compass...*" Is there a reference to the person being lost? I didn't see it.

I'm guessing his hypothermia wasn't too severe if he could stagger into the hut. I suppose he got very worried with the bad weather conditions while he was making his way to the hut. I've never experienced wind as bad as what the Tararuas threw at us one time. We were picked up, transported a metre and then dumped. Amazing.

If only MetService listed temperature and wind speeds at Kime Hut...

There is a discord to this message. The guy was saved by a) getting to the hut, and b) there being local trampers who were available to help him out. If he hadn't made it to the hut he would probably died - regardless of the PLB. The beacon served to alert people as to his predicament, and to help work out his location - but, because of condition's, it didn't contribute to rescuing him. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for PLBs, and they can make the difference. Just don't like the blatantly loaded publicity.

he may still have died in the hut without the other trampers. that hut isnt heated, its around 1400m and cold in bad weather... getting to a hut does not mean you are saved at all. plenty of people have died of hypothermia after they got to shelter. you have to treat a person with hypothermia correctly or you can worsen the condition even to the point of killing them faster.

metservice do a forecast for Kime hut with windchill temp http://m.metservice.com/mountain/tararua-forest-park Kime Hut (1400m) Time Wind Precipitation Wind Chill 06:00 N 80km/h 1mm 3°C 12:00 NW 45km/h 29mm 3°C 18:00 NW 25km/h 3mm 5°C 00:00 NW 30km/h 2mm 5°C

I mostly agree, PaulEvans - why I'd like a bit more info - but 'blatantly loaded publicity' might motivate a few of the stupid people tramping without PLBs to actually buy one. We can assume the guy had largely recovered from hypothermia as he was still alive when LandSAR arrived, 9 hours after he arrived at the hut (thanks, no doubt, to the trampers already in the hut). The trip to hospital would be for rehydration and general check, I would think. So setting off the PLB resulted in LandSAR actually attending - worthwhile in the described circumstances but not, perhaps, life-saving. There are 5 weather stations within 50km of Kime but none are above 110m elevation - so not much use. However, for the record, the max wind gust recorded was 46kph (and general wind speed was about half that or less).

it can take a while to recover properly from hypothermia even after you've been warmed up to normal body temp. can leave you pretty unwell for a few days