Climbing accident ‘unusual’
Something went ‘‘drastically wrong’’ to claim the life of Conor Smith, 22, and his climbing partner Sarwan Chand, 27, Smith’s grandfather says.
The pair of experienced New Zealand climbers fell when they attempted a route on the South Face of Marian Peak in the Darran Mountain, Fiordland.
‘‘It is a shocking tragedy,’’ Malcolm Smith, of Greymouth, said about the pair’s death. ‘‘It is a real tragic situation.’’ His grandson was a talented and ‘‘dedicated’’ climber, and his life had ended far too soon.
‘‘It was his whole mission in life, he was really good at it and was highly skilled.’’
The area the pair were climbing in was testing, ‘‘but something has gone drastically wrong’’.
‘‘There will be investigations and they will try and work out what went wrong.’’
The death was a stressful time for the family and had shocked the close-knit West Coast community, he said.
New Zealand Alpine Team (NZAT) member Steve Fortune, of Queenstown, said the deaths of his fellow team members was ‘‘a shocking event that makes us think about what you are doing’’.
‘‘At the moment we are mourning the loss of our friends.’’
Fortune had climbed the Darran Mountains, but not the South Face of Marian Peak, which was ’’a remote and challenging climb’’.
While details of the fatal fall were not yet known, NZAT said in a statement ‘‘the leader fell before being able to place gear after the belay’’.
‘‘This resulted in a factor two lead fall, pulling the team off the wall.’’
Fortune said members were ‘‘trying to find out what happened’’.
‘‘It was an unusual accident to happen . . . and there are a number of possible reasons why that have occurred and we don’t really know why.
‘‘It is not something happens very often.’’
Smith and Chand joined NZAT in late 2015.
‘‘They were both well liked and respected members of our team,’’ an NZAT spokesman said.
‘‘To lose two of our friends and teammates together in this way is devastating for us.
‘‘Our thoughts are with their family and friends.’’ that the
Smith was a former Tai Poutini Polytechnic Outdoor Education student and in March told the tertiary provider what it meant to be selected for the NZAT: ‘‘To me it’s also about spending my time with like-minded people that have more experience and skills that they can pass on’’.
‘‘For me, climbing is a really personal thing; I’m not really interested in guiding or teaching other people at this stage.
‘‘It’s something I do for me and I want to push myself mentally and physically.’’
Chand’s NZAT profile said the former Canterbury man studied at Lincoln University and enjoyed climbing, running, mountain biking and snowboarding, and ‘‘from a young age spent time tramping and doing transalpine trips in Arthurs Pass and Westland’’.
A police search and rescue team reached the bodies from an area below Marian Peak on Tuesday.
Sergeant Tod Hollebon, of Te Anau, said the two climbers were reported missing Monday afternoon.
‘‘A search by helicopter [Monday] evening located the climbers at the base of a climbing face where they had clearly suffered a fall,’’ he said.
The two climbers left Homer Huts, near the Milford Rd, on Saturday.