Incidents in the mountains

"We don't have huts everywhere (or at all), and most tracks are barely maintained, more often by volunteers." Do you think this might result in more people being prepared to spend nights out (and with better shelter than minimal emergency gear) because they were going to anyway, though? I like NZ's hut culture and on balance for a place that's eternally wet I think they contribute to a better experience. But NZ also has an embedded issue with people, including locals, being inadequately prepared for when their plans of staying in huts don't work out.

I've got to the point of just accepting that there are many up in the hills who are woefully unprepared. A few don't make it but most do, presumably and hopefully learning stuff in the process. I do my best to talk to those who appear to be unprepared but, usually, I get the feeling they see me as a boring old fart trying to stop them from testing their limits! And its true! lol

@deepriver And even the woefully unprepared are going to get lucky and make it back most times. What do you do aside from look at restricting access or pumping cash into education (for Kiwis) and awareness (for tourists)? Most people are aware of the broad do's and don'ts anyway, but there will always be some that slip through cracks. I think there might be a tendency at times among regular outdoorsfolk to get a bit sanctimonious about the whole thing.

an extract from a TA walkers blog (was shared on the FMC facebook page) https://hello-mountains.com/2017/01/22/lockestream-hut-to-arthurs-pass-guardian-angels-protecting-us-on-the-toughest-day/ leaving Locke stream hut "We start hiking towards the first of many river crossings today, feeling confident as now it didn’t rain for at least 24h and the water level should be back to normal. The river looks still big and we decide to go together, grabbing each others backpacks underneath the back for more stability. But we are not used to walking like this together and even though the river is not coming very high, just to my knees, the current is so strong at one point I cannot lift my leg anylonger and somehow we stumble and fall down. We are out of the current and not in danger and can quickly get up, keeping both very calm. But I am soaking wet now and hurt my knee hitting a rock. It gets swollen very quickly, but I just continue anyway According to the trail notes “travelling down the valley is easy” but it’s not at all. It’s hard to find the trail and especially after the weather bomb the trail is washed away in places so we have to bush bash a lot. For the next river crossings we develop a better technique. Only one is moving and tells the other once stable again, then the other moves. It works out fine and I don’t know what I would have done without Shelley!" The Taramakau has been flooded often, since last winter apparently. Plenty other dodgy river crossings on the trail, in addition to the other usual backcountry risks. Didnt get much better, further on either Make me wonder if inexperienced "hikers" should be encouraged to places like this? I always thought the Tararua Main Range section wasn't that ideal Or should there be more bridges etc? You only usually hear about the fatalities

the richmond ranges is one of the most exposed sections, it runs along the ridge tops for a long part of the ranges length, then theres the waiau saddle and upper waiau river which are treacherous in bad weather. then theres vague information about what to do on the rakaia and rangitata rivers, which can be fatal in anything but dead low water flow and even then are tricky to cross.... it advises hitch hiking or walking around but it adds a fair distance on and there is barely any road traffic there, and they dont outright say not to cross. its only for experienced people to attempt those rivers. those that recognise when the rivers are safe. theres other long exposed sections as well which offer no natural shelter from prevailing winds and rain in bad weather. the trail i being mas marketed outside of the normal tramping community and tourists are taking on the walk and end up in trouble before they know whats happening.. some thru hikers will move heaven and high water to try and complete every metre of the trail on the designated track... there should be an easier version of the trail for people to take and they can still claim they have walked something like a lowland version of te araroa, so people dont have to risk their lives so much taking on the official trail. the trail was conceive by a seasoned NZ trampers and most people tackling the trail have never come across a trail thats as rough as this one before, deception mingha is another nasty section, i read about someone who was at the goat pass hut for a couple of nights because of the rain, but either the wind was too strong or they didnt know they could walk out via temple col when the rivers were up... there will be a lot more bad incidents, more injuries, rescues and deaths. the numbers have exploded , estimates are a thousand people on the trail.. i had to tell one of them to go out and by some decent warm clothes because they didnt have anything that would keep them warm if they got wet on the track...

Well when they start off at either end it's not too remote at least. They can come out and gear up a bit better like Jordan Reed did (who was doing the TAT last winter). Most of them seem to be avoiding crossing the Rakaia. I saw a video of some poor sods who did cross it and wished they hadn't though they lived to tell the tale. Regarding travelling down the Taramakau: one time Frank and I were going into Townsend Hut and we crossed the Otehake very slowly and carefully as it was up a bit. We realised we were being watched by a group of 3 lads who'd wisely camped on the bank the night before. They'd called up a helicopter to take them out but we told them to cancel it and we'd escort them across so we ended up crossing the Otehake 3 times that day.

one of the ladies mentioned in the hello mountain log tht was hit by a rock, ended up walking three days to Otira with a fractured leg

"I always thought the Tararua Main Range section wasn't that ideal" An earlier plan from the Trust was to send people along Oriwa Ridge, and at one point DOC was set to cut a new track along it, but local groups didn't want a bar of that given that ridge has become a popular relatively undeveloped area. The consultation and its results were around in 2009, but DOC's website now only seems to list consultation documentation back to 2010. I wrote some stuff at the time at http://www.windy.gen.nz/index.php/archives/420 , though.

the pressure is on nicholls hut and Drac biv now with the TA, omre people are going through there in summer than those huts are designed to cope with... its not always possible to proceed south past nicholls hut in bad weather, and its a logical place to stop if you're walking from Te Matawai hut... meaning the hut gets over full

rescue from "5 passes". between 5 passes and the routeburn http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88930982/exhausted-tramper-activates-beacon-in-mt-aspiring-national-park