200m from avalanche death
Ben Collins was lying in his tent after a long day trapping stoats in a remote Fiordland valley when he heard a thundering noise.
‘‘I looked out and saw this massive avalanche heading for us. We legged it out of there but we only got about 50 metres before it hit. The force was incredible, it knocked us off our feet, and we were being hit by snow and ice. It was just unreal, the force of it.’’
The avalanche came down a mountain face Collins and his two companions had camped 400 metres from.
‘‘We thought we were safe where we were. We were a long way from the cliff and we thought we were all good.
‘‘If we were 200 metres closer they’d be looking for bodies.’’
Their tents were shredded by the wind and their gear was strewn all over the site, or buried.
Shocked, cold and wet, they set off their emergency locator beacon and set in to wait for rescue.
It was about an hour until the Southern Lakes rescue helicopter arrived and took them back to Te Anau. ‘‘We were getting pretty cold and we thought it could have been four or five hours before someone arrived.
‘‘The turn-around was amazing – the Rescue Coordination Centre picks up the signal from the beacon, they advise police, they let the chopper crew know and they all have to get there, warm up the chopper and then fly to where we were.
‘‘They probably saved our lives,’’ Collins said.
The trio were aware of the avalanche risk before setting out to spend the weekend setting trap lines to catch stoats, something they did voluntarily.
They had flown into one valley at the head of Lake Te Anau about 8am on Saturday morning, set lines and then been picked up and flown into another valley to set more. They finally set up camp, changed into dry clothes, had a feed and headed off to bed about 9pm. ‘‘The weather forecast changed when we were in there.
‘‘We thought we’d maybe get a shower of rain but it rained for around 10 hours. It wasn’t miserable, just drizzle.
‘‘There was no sign of anything dodgy with the snow and that was the only avalanche we saw. It just goes to show how much snow is still up there.’’
Collins said he’s been in the bush his whole life and he had no problems flying back in on Monday to get his gear.
‘‘The New Zealand avalanche people have assessed that it’s safe for us to go back in. It’s just one of those things that happens in the bush. It’s a hell of a story – I’m just glad I’m here to tell it.’’
Southern Lakes Helicopter pilot Snow Mullally said it was ‘‘lucky they had a beacon or it would have been an uncomfortable night for them. It gave them a bit of a fright I think.
‘‘I flew up there with the night vision goggles on and they had a light going so they were easy to spot. I picked them and their gear up and brought them back to Te Anau.’’ None of the men required medical treatment.
Mullally said there was still a lot of snow on the mountains above 1500 metres, and warm weather and rain meant the avalanche danger was high.
The NZ Avalanche Advisory issued a moderate risk warning for Fiordland on Thursday through to Sunday, saying there was an increasing trend of avalanches in the area.
It said rain, intense sun and high freezing levels contributed to the avalanche danger during spring, and all were in the forecast for the next few days.