NZ’s deadliest places to hike
There are more than 14,000 kilometres of tramping tracks across New Zealand – some are well maintained and relatively safe, others, when coupled with our changeable weather, are potentially deadly.
In the past 10 years, there have been an average of 5.7 hiking deaths a year, Mountain Safety Council (MSC) chief executive Mike Daisley said.
In just nine months in 2019 (between April and December), at least 11 people died while tramping in the Tararua Range, Arthur’s Pass, the Remarkables, the Tongariro Northern Circuit, Nelson Lakes National Park, Mt Lancelot, and the Routeburn Track.
From July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2017, there were 57 fatalities across the country’s tramping trails – 31 from falling, 12 from drowning, six from hypothermia, two from avalanches, two from glacial ice falls, and four from unknown causes, based on data from MSC’s A Walk in the Park? report.
The most fatalities occurred in Southland, followed by Queenstown Lakes and Tasman, Westland, the Tararua Ranges, Aoraki/Mt Cook, and Central North Island, Taranaki and Auckland.
A recent analysis conducted by MSC found the Tongariro Alpine Crossing had the most safety incidents over nearly a decade. In total, there were 293 incidents – a combination of fatalities, search and rescues, and injuries – compared with 47 on the Milford Track over the same period.
Although the number of incidents on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was high, an MSC spokesperson said it was beginning to fall.
So, who is to blame; the tracks or trampers? Both, according to tramping and safety experts.
The Department of Conservation’s principal adviser for visitor risk, Don Bogie, said that although popular tracks were well maintained, there were several unmarked routes that required a high level of fitness and proved difficult to traverse depending on the weather.
‘‘Some tracks and marked routes are rough, require a high level of physical fitness, can be difficult and at times will have windfalls, washouts, muddy sections, and require route-finding skills, particularly if the weather and/or the visibility is poor.’’
Natural hazards ranging from avalanches to dynamic weather contributed to injuries and deaths, but a lack of preparation was also a factor.
Alpine tracks were generally the most dangerous. Cascade Saddle in Mt Aspiring National Park and Gertrude Saddle in Fiordland, for example, attracted less-skilled visitors ‘‘often driven by spectacular must-go-there photos on the internet’’, Bogie said.
Niwa principal scientist Chris Brandolino said New Zealand’s weather was more changeable than unpredictable, and encouraged those embarking on hikes to thoroughly check the weather forecast, not just skim over the daily temperatures.
He believed New Zealand’s ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude wouldn’t hold up when it came to choosing a safe day to tramp – ‘‘[If] you keep on saying that, you’ll get burned.’’
Daisley warned that tracks marked as difficult weren’t the only ones with hazards. ‘‘Areas below the alpine zone are not without risk. With greater participation numbers, we see a higher number of injuries in these areas than on the more advanced tracks.’’
Of the 57 deaths, 21 occurred on advanced tramping tracks, 13 were on expert routes, six on intermediate tracks, four on easy tracks, and another 13 happened off track.