Tramper's close call near Alpha hut, Tararuas
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/82938455/perilous-helicopter-rescue-in-subzero-temperatures
I hope this person is ok. The article says he was stuck at Hell's Gate (a steep pass at approx. 1000m altitude), just below Alpha Hut on the Southern Crossing of the Tararuas for 2 days. Maybe he slipped on that section and couldn't move far? Or he wasn't sure of where he was because of the snow? It's hard to know.
I have been thinking of doing winter trips in the Tararuas, but it's hard to know how much snow is up on the mountain tops at any one time or how dangerous it will be. The past weekend though has been a particularly bad southerly with snow throughout the south island and hawkes bay. It would be handy if there was a webcam or something so you could see how much snow was on the main range.
It sounds like a really close call for this person, and I think it's easier to be caught out by a bad storm than most people think, and to be underprepared, as I've found in summer tramps when it's started snowing in the mountains and we weren't prepared with gloves and full winter gear.
no sensible tramper would be up there in the weather conditions, you'd be exhausted post holing through the snow and hypothermia wouldnt be far away.
He was found near top of hells gate, on way to Alpha.
Amalgamated helicopters pilot Jason Diedrichs spotted his foot prints through the canopy and tracked them until they spotted the guy thru the bush.
apparently he was buggered, and the heli crew decided he needed urgent medical care so Lifeflite were called in.
the Media statement didn't mention that in fact another company found the guy.
conditions were getting lots worse, and they reckon he wouldn't survived if hadn't been found. snow was very very deep
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1755703394685225&id=1552421465013420
I know sometimes we come off as a bunch of negative Nellies around here sometimes, but this is a really good example of how easily it can go wrong.
If not for the remarkable spotting skills of the chopper crew, this guy would likely have added to the 10 - 20 odd people who die every year in our mountains.
And all the more pointed as it's a spot very well-known to any of us who've tramped the Tararuas. Big winter storms are never to be underestimated.
I was on the other side (Western) of the range on the same day and the snow conditions at the same altitude were pretty heavy. I turned around when I started going up to my thighs in the soft stuff. the Eastern and Southern end of the range were a lot worse as that was where the weather
came from. It's still a decent climb from Hells Gate up to Alpha Hut
Have done the trip to alpha, in knee deep snow along the Marchant. Climbing Omega and hells gate was the worst bit, took bout 9 hours as I recall.
Was a long time ago, still at college.
This guy should have known snow to low levels was forecast, but maybe he didn't expect it to be so heavy. I certainly didn't think it would be that deep, although didn't pay too much attention, wasn't going anywhere, anyway.
Snow didn't come down to low levels, but where is fells, was pretty deep.
You'd think by the time he got to the top of Omega, he'd know it was going to be hard work, and could have retreated down to Cone or Tutuwai
Thanks for posting that link TararuaHunter, incredible the helicopter could pick up the guy's footprints and spot him!
It's definitely made me reconsider going along the tops until I know the weather is much warmer, well into spring. I can see quite a few scenarios where say a tourist, or someone nieve like me, sees the weather forecast is bad in 4 or 5 days time, starts the southern crossing in good weather, then maybe by day 2-3 the bad weather comes in early with heavy snow. They get disorientated along the tops, lose the track, follow a wrong ridge and then they're in big trouble.
Also with climate change, we're going to see more extreme weather events like this one and extreme gale force winds catching people by surprise too.
I've tramped through here; it's not above the bush line, so theoretically, you should able to find a sheltered spot & hunker down with some hot food in your sleeping bag & bivvy bag, while you still have some energy left. How long could you last? Well, didn't those climbers on Ruapehu survive in a snow cave for eight days? I agree with the previous comments, however; those extreme conditions were forecast, so waiting for the southerly to blow over at somewhere like Cone Hut would have been the best option.
The saddle is a wind tunnel. I wouldn't camp anywhere near it. The problem wasn't the temp. It was the high volume of snow in a moist front that was forecast. The tararua tops are notorious in bad weather.
Hi John. Which Ruapehu incident was that? I'm probably forgetting one, but the main one that comes to mind was when those 6 army personnel died and 5 others rescued in severe states of hypothermia and frostbite in 1990 after not being able to build a snow cave with the wind. The shallow trench which they'd managed wasn't very effective.
That's connected with a more successful snow cave story because during the same storm, a Japanese climber had built one not far away, then bedded down relatively comfortably for six days (considering the circumstances).
Edit: These climbers were in the news in 2004, though. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3586345 Did it last for 8 days?
Search the forums
| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | savvy89 |
| On | 8 August 2016 |
| Replies | 25 |
| Permanent link | |
Participation in the forums signifies acceptance of forum rules.
In order to manage spam, new members are limited to 1 post every 10 minutes.
Formatting your posts
The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.
| Type this... | To get this... | |
|---|---|---|
| Italic | *Italic text* | *Italic text* |
| Bold | **Bold text** | **Bold text** |
| Quoted text | > Quoted text | > Quoted text |
| Emojis | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: |
| Lists |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
| Links | https://tramper.nz | https://tramper.nz |
| Images |  URL/of/image |
 |
| Mentions | @username | @username |