‘Incredibly lucky’ climbers alive, rescued
AN experienced Queenstown mountain guide says it is ‘‘absolutely incredible’’ two climbers, who triggered an avalanche on Mt Earnslaw, near Glenorchy, were able to call for help yesterday.
Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue team member Aaron Halstead, involved in yesterday morning’s search and rescue mission, said while the two Auckland men had a personal locator beacon (PLB), ‘‘stupidly . . . [they] left it at home’’.
The pair had set out from the Esquilant Bivvy Hut about 5am, intending to summit the 2819m peak of Mt Earnslaw, Mr Halstead said.
However, a recent storm had delivered ‘‘summer storm slab snow’’ to the peak and the pair ‘‘probably left too late’’ for their climb.
‘‘By the time they got around on to the face it was 7.30am/8am and the sun was baking it by then.’’
He said the pair triggered the small avalanche — ‘‘it was only a few centimetres’’ — but it was enough to knock them off their feet and throw them about 100m down the slope.
The men came to rest where two crevasses met, with two large crevasse holes on either side of them.
‘‘If they’d ended up in either one of those, it probably would have been a different outcome.
‘‘To be honest, they’re incredibly lucky because they didn’t end up over a cliff, they didn’t end up getting really beaten up — although one of them is quite injured — but they managed to get mobile reception out.’’
Two helicopters were deployed for the rescue effort, one from Otago Helicopters and the other from Heli Glenorchy.
Mr Halstead said they flew around the site and there was a ‘‘window’’ of mobile reception, exactly where the men were, but 100m above and below them, there was none.
‘‘If they didn’t [get reception] they would have had to walk, probably, 10 to 12 hours to get back to the Muddy Creek car park.’’
One member of the rescue team was winched down to the site by Otago Helicopters to extract the men one at a time.
Both were flown to Lakes District Hospital — a 26yearold man was admitted with moderate pelvis and chest injuries. He was ‘‘incredibly lucky’’, Mr Halstead said.
His companion, in his midtolate 20s, was checked and discharged.
Mr Halstead said while the men had outdoor experience in New Zealand, they had a ‘‘limited climbing background’’.
They also had good climbing gear with them, ‘‘but no transceivers or anything for avalanche, and that’s not uncommon for climbing in NZ in summer’’.
‘‘Avalanches are a summer phenomenon . . . climbers can end up in terrain that can avalanche but they’re not necessarily prepared for it, or they’re not thinking about it.
‘‘Avalanches happen, take a PLB — they’re the size of a matchbox now, just take one with you,’’ he said.