Ill equipped/experienced tourists

situation normal in the mountains... pressure was put on all the bus shuttle companies servicing hte Tongariro crossing to not take people with inadequate clothing. they still often arent adequately clothed, but they dont tend to go out with shorts and singlet only like large numbers of walkers used to from the shuttles.. there are weather forecast thresholds the shuttles follow. they won't run if the forecast is for bad weather, rain or strong winds. the full walk unguided shuttles don'e operate when theres a lot of snow about either.

don't over estimate the general public. you're assuming visitors take the time to look at safety information, there are massive signs on the crossing telling people not to proceed on the climb up to south crater if they arent properly equiped for the conditions, and i just watch a stream of people in street clothing and dress jeans with tiny bags if any, head on up... backpackers are going for walks on tramping tracks with little knowledge of what they could be up for. a lot of tracks now start out as footpaths, including the crossing, so people get well into the mountains pretty quickly, then they get stuck on more difficult terrain, weather deteriorating, and or daylight fading.... people dont have a clue where they are on the crossing, i asked a group and they didnt have any idea , most didnt have a map. people dont know how long the walk is, they go up ngauruhoe without much notion of the height of it, they don't keep track of time. we've discussed about mountain runners before, at least they have reasonable fitness and some experience but they are often minimally prepared if they get stuck out for longer than expected https://www.tianz.org.nz/main/news-detail/index.cfm/2012/07/experts-move-to-stop-rogue-tongariro-visitors/

Saw a guy on the Routeburn Track once, with all his gear in shopping bags tied to a belt around his waste.

Have to agree with waynowski as we were on the Tongariro Crossing/Mt Ngaruhoe at Easter. The ultimate was a guy whose only possessions were shorts, tee shirt, sneakers and, wait for it, a smartphone! Oh he probably had socks and undies as well. But then there were 1999 other people up there so I guess there's safety in numbers! lol the people we were concerned about were the unfit older folk (about my age! lol ) who were totally buggered before reaching The Staircase! If they had been dropped off they would have felt compelled to continue as their pick up would be over the other side. Once came across a couple well up in the mountains carrying supermarket bags. There only concern was whether we had seen any 'rangers' as, quite obviously they were not paying hut fees.

yeah i'e seen people in running gear with thin wind breakers crying on the Crossing in bad weather, because they felt they had to complete it because their bus would be at the other end..