MSC number crunching on NZ outdoors recreation

Just getting in to it but so far, what an exceptionally presented document :O

Thanks for that. I haven't yet read it, but it looks fascinating, and hopefully an example of an up-side to come out of the MSC's restructure. MSC's twitter account seems to be blurting out lots of stuff about the ongoing release right now. https://twitter.com/nz_msc

Fascinating, clearly going alone in the bush gives you almost 4 times more chance to become the subject of a SAR attempt.

For tramping, overwhelmingly ''falling'' & as ''solo's". Oldies over-represented as an age group. :( I guess we seniors need to recognise our capabilities in the situations we venture, as we don't bounce so well ?. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_57FeVYL_WoM/TDxbbFhHAHI/AAAAAAAAsJY/dtdNH_JAw9w/s640/051011I-DadOnTramperWithCwmEigiauValley.JPG (edit- Agree with Briar. Solo or as one member of a group)

As a so called oldie I can confirm that I bounce exceedingly well, it's the standing up afterwards that does not go so well.

Good point Frank! :D I think the 'single person' bracket includes when only 1 person from a group is involved in an incident. At least, that is the way I interpret the presentation. "Most Search and Rescues were for a single person or to rescue a single person lost or injured from a multi-person trip"

"going alone in the bush gives you almost 4 times more chance to become the subject of a SAR attempt" I'm not sure which bit of the doc this is from, but on page 30 I see 72% of SAR incidents are for solo trampers "or to rescue a single person lost or injured from a multi-person trip". Similar parallel figures and statements for hunting, climbing, mountain biking, running. If that's the source, it might possibly just be that most SAR ops are for a single person needing help, whether or not they're in groups. That makes some intuitive sense to me if true. When there are injuries, it seems most likely that a specific person will be injured rather than everyone. Incidents with lots of people might mostly come from groups getting lost. Mountaineering's different (p66), with a higher rate of multiple SAR subjects than the others.... probably not too surprising. Another aspect to this is that the number of people out there in each group size might skew the number of incidents towards whatever size is most common. Therefore it's not necessarily possible to state that you're more likely to be a SAR subject when solo than with a group. It might just be that there's a vastly larger number of solo trampers out there. It looks like they have a count of how many people participated according to various demographics, but for this type of study, I think what could be more meaningful than a measure of how many discrete people take part in an activity like 'tramping' or 'climbing' could be to count the total number of hours or days that are spent by everyone. I really don't know how to measure that, though. If were easy they'd probably have done it. I wonder how the frequency and type of SAR incidents, and also outcomes, correlates with the propagation of PLBs. Also, did anyone else notice that the document has 103 instances of the word 'tramp' (or variation) and 0 instances of the word 'hike' (or variation). Awesome. :)

"going alone in the bush gives you almost 4 times more chance to become the subject of a SAR attempt" well thats me screwed then....

I fear the data has been over interpreted and has spurious accuracy. The information might be useful for SAR planning, etc. but it is not at all clear how it might be used by individuals to improve their satisfaction with life. There is little that can be done about age. Most are compelled by circumstances to participate at the times and in places where accidents are most common. My impression is that there has been a marked fall in competence, skill and self reliance in those who venture outdoors over recent decades. There was a time, for example, when a Tongariro Crossing was a serious undertaking on account of its potential exposure to extreme weather and the lack of easy escape to benign terrain.