Another missing tramper in Tararuas

he would have overlooked log books at at least three huts to get to arete biv... just may not be part of his regime at all...

Darren Myers filled out te Matawai hut book. Spoke to hi wife on phone from Arete, about intentions (on to Holdsworth), so may have assumed that was enough when he left Arete bivvy, snow hadn't arrived. but winds got up to 140kms and I think heavy rain. So Waiohine Pinnacles would still be treacherous, and would tramping the tops along the route its been difficult enough for the search teams along there

>Darren Myers filled out te Matawai hut book. Spoke to his wife on phone from Arete, about intentions (on to Holdsworth), so may have assumed that was enough The thing is, if he carefully filled in every hut book along the way with clear intentions, then the presence of an entry in Arete Hut and the absence on one at Tarn Ridge would be strong evidence that he'd left Arete for Tarn Ridge and hadn't made it and the search could be narrowed to that area. I guess they are going on the assumption he go in trouble between Arete and Tarn Ridge, but if there's a possibility he got past there and was forced off the tops/took a wrong spur south of Tarn Ridge, that's an awful lot of country to be searching at this time of year.

@Ian_H wasn't suggesting a phone contact was sufficient, just what he did. right or wrong. the searchers would have to assume highest probability is he didn't get to Tarn.(no hut book entry) But there is a chance he did and kept going, so it has widened the search area. because the various adjoining valley escape routes off the tops, the search area is large. Also always a chance he turned back and missed arete bivvy. has happened before. Increases the search area more. couldn't be in a more complex place, probably.

update https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113332750/search-for-missing-tramper-darren-myers-in-tararua-ranges-will-continue-into-second-week

So hang on he left from poads? Made it to arete. Was intending to head to tarn ridge. Signed at te matawai and arete but not tarn ridge. Was on the northern crossing during that weather bomb. Are you kidding me. He's dead. Far out why didn't he turn back.

calling a tramper experienced can be misleading. your experience is only relative to the terrain and weather you've tramped in. the missing tramper was from britain, the mountain tops there are generally a lot easier to get up and down and walk along the tops than in a lot of NZ inc the route he was taking in the Tararuas. he may have been expecting similar terrain to Britain and that may have influenced him to continue, he may have expected to get through a lot faster than he actually did, but he was still at arete biv with most of the ridge walking remaining and the most difficult part of the ridge. yet it seems he didnt or wasnt able to backtrack before the storm caused problems for him

>couldn't be in a more complex place, probably. Yeah, hugely complicated area, so many different catchments of varying degrees of nastiness you could end up in if you had to get off the tops anywhere along there. Still, if you made a reasonably orderly withdrawal from the tops, there are a number of survivable scenarios where you wouldn't be able to move further but wouldn't be spotted from the air. Quite a difficult decision coming up for the search controllers in the next few days if they don't find him by then. Of course, a group got into trouble trying to do exactly the same trip, similar time of year in late April 1933. They ended up walking out the entire length of the Waiohine under their own steam, took them two weeks, I don't think they even had a tent or more than two days food with them: http://www.windy.gen.nz/index.php/archives/498

update https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113342216/family-and-searchers-remaining-resolute-but-realistic-in-search-for-missing-tararua-ranges-tramper he could have turned around and overshot the turnoff and descended anywhere north of where they expect he is as well... the bush is so thick, searching in there is a very slow process... i've done a search exercise in tararua bush, they dropped some carabiners in the undergrowth, despite searching shoulder to shoulder no one found them, every year they did an exercise in the same place and they never found them... so finding clues is a mission in itself, no clues then that doesnt tell you where to look, its one time you want a messy person who leaves a trail of rubbish behind... if you're lost, leave a trail, break branches, turn over fern branches, leave brightly coloured objects behind... cut up spare material and tie it to branches if you're lost, leave a trail, break branches, turn over fern branches, leave brightly coloured objects behind... cut up spare material and tie it to branches

Turning around and trying to head back to Arete hut ( and missing it) is one of the options being looked at, I gather. it is possible to bypass the hut , in poor visibility. would mean the head of Ruamahanaga and westwards needs searching. and the surrounding tops. Dropping into Arete stream has happened with a few parties in the past, to get way from the wind. But the route down to arete forks is pretty gnarly in places, as most have discovered.