Mountain tragedy claims hero ‘good guy’
Tributes flow for man who once saved a kid’s life. By David Burroughs.
An adventurer who died after falling into Mt Ruapehu’s Crater Lake was hailed a hero 16 years ago after saving a young girl from drowning.
Friends have paid tribute to Richard Ebbett, 39, who went missing on Friday afternoon after heading up onto the Whakapapa skifield.
Due to bad weather at the time, police were unable to begin searching until yesterday morning when ground teams and helicopters were used to scour the mountain.
Ebbett’s family members joined the search party, and after a short search his body was found in the lake.
Police said it appeared he had slipped and fallen in and his death has been referred to the coroner.
‘‘It is an absolute tragedy for this man’s family,’’ said Senior Sergeant Grant Alabaster.
Friend Nick Enstrom said he had known Ebbett through motocross (MX) and described him as knowledgeable and helpful.
‘‘We couldn’t have lost a nicer, more helpful guy,’’ he said.
‘‘Our MX community will have a huge missing piece.’’
Ebbett attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School, and owned the Moto SR Motorcycle Dealership in Ta¯upo.
In 2001, he was credited with saving a young girl from drowning when he came across an accident scene while travelling home from a motocross event in Kawhia.
Ebbett had been in the back of his brother’s van when a tractor in front of them, which was towing a trailer with four children on it, careered across the road and crashed into a ditch.
‘‘I could see this tractor in the ditch and the trailer upside-down,’’ he said at the time.
‘‘I jumped out while the van was still going. I just ran down to get the kids out.’’
The driver, George Philip Tooman, 48, was killed instantly while the trailer trapped two of the children, and an 18-month-old girl was thrown face-down into a drain. Ebbett freed the two trapped children, then spotted the youngest in the ditch and pulled her out.
Police said the toddler would have died without his quick actions.
Yesterday, Kerri Hedley said Ebbett was a true down-to-earth, genuine guy.
‘‘He would always be chatty at motocross and so friendly to all,’’ she said.
‘‘He was a big supporter of my brother at motocross events and always helped him out when needed.
‘‘He will be sorely missed at motocross events. This is such a tragedy.’’
A friend of Ebbett, who asked to remain anonymous, said it seemed likely he had fallen into the lake after removing his skis to reach a popular viewing point. ‘‘There is a very prominent ice layer beneath the snow – I suspect from recent rain – and it is possible he may have lost footing in ski boots and ended up in the Crater Lake,’’ the friend said.
‘‘I was near the scene about the time they were planning the recovery but was having difficulty myself with the ice layer just beneath the snow surface.’’ Visibility was poor at the time. In an interview with the Taupo Times in 2013, Ebbett told how he moved from Whakatane to Ta¯upo to fulfil his love of motocross.
‘‘I’ve been in the industry for 17 years, racing at national level which truly developed my passion, then for the last eight years in business.’’