Outdoors "Be careful out there"

[Ianab]

News article today from the Sth Island. Young man on a working holiday in NZ basically fell into a small canyon in the Mts, and has never been found. He's probably still in that 300ft section of canyon, but 823 man hours of searching couldn't find him. 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360652240/not-one-earths-kind-places-extraordinary-search-hector-artigau

Unfortunately a lot of tourists (and some locals) underestimate the weather / terrain and get into trouble. Most are rescued, some they find the body, and others... never seen again. 

Local Mt, (Taranaki) is considered the 2nd most deadly Mt in NZ, because it's so accessible, but subject to such changeable weather. Folks get to the carpark and think, "Yeah I can walk up there". Weather changes and they are stuck in a below freezing blizzard on the side of a Mt. 

[customsawyer]

Those stories are sad. Not to mention the risks that the searchers have taken. Some of them are true heroes.

[barbender]

Man, that canyon (slot, really) is wicked! Those SAR guys went way above and beyond. 

It is amazing the amount of skills those people have, on standby. I spend a lot of time out in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, and read about quite a few SAR operations that have to go in to get people out of the high country wilderness areas. Honestly, I'm surprised by the number of people SAR has available, and what a commitment and responsibility it is for those people. While I'm on the couch taking it easy, these folks get a call and go helicopter up on the mountain for a 24 hour operation to get some folks out that got over their heads. They're really unsung heroes.

[Ianab]

It is amazing the amount of skills those people have, on standby. I spend a lot of time out in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, and read about quite a few SAR operations that have to go in to get people out of the high country wilderness areas. Honestly, I'm surprised by the number of people SAR has available, and what a commitment and responsibility it is for those people.

Yeah, a lot of volunteer time goes into this sort of stuff. 

Locally it's coordinated by the local Police, and they have staff in each area that act as a SAR coordinator. They will have contact lists with Alpine club / hiking / hunting / caving / surf rescue / volunteer coast guard etc. And local rescue choppers / airforce etc. Dad and I were involved many years ago as part of NZ Deerstalkers (National hunting club). Much respect for the guys that do the Alpine / Cave / whitewater stuff. We were "bush bashers" and could could walk into some pretty rugged terrain, equipped to stay the night, and not need rescue ourselves. Map and compass back in those days, GPS would have been a luxury. 

Being able to find your way through NZ bush without get turned around or tangled in vines is apparently a useful skill I learned growing up. 

[Ianab]

Another search underway in the South Island, for a British hiker that has gone missing in Milford Sound. First picture is the area they are searching. For scale, the peak is 4,000 ft high, and that's the sea below. 

 

Second picture is the local webcam from the tourist centre, looking at the same peak, or at least the lower 1/3 of it. So helicopters are grounded, and probably will be for the next 2 days. 

[Ianab]

Search is still ongoing. Wed they had 4" of rain, Thursday 6". Nothing unusual for the area, but the low cloud made air searches impossible. The guy is experienced and equipped, so he could still be alive and injured up there. But it also brings up the usefulness of emergency locator beacons. If the SAR guys had an approx fix to search, they would have found him by now, even if it was fogged in. 

[Ianab]

View from a chopper on today's search. Easy to see how you could get into trouble in that area. 
 

[customsawyer]

That's some steep ground. One wrong step and you're going for a heck of ride.

[TreefarmerNN]

Good luck on the search.  It will take a lot of effort and luck to find the hiker if he's injured and not able to move or help with the search.  And from the photo's, it's possible he hit the water. 

[beenthere]

Search an underwater search, or searching the steep slopes ??
Hope no searchers are lost in the process. 

[Ianab]

The cliff in the pictures doesn't stop at the waterline, the fiord is about 1,000 ft deep. No update so far, I think they got a break in the weather yesterday, but the webcam this morning isn't encouraging.

 

This is my picture taken in better weather, in 2020.



And from the tour boat looking up at the peak.

[SwampDonkey]

Nice to view from the photography. Ain't no way I'd go up there. Some places was meant to stay off of.  I remember heli rides over peeks like them on the BC north coast and looking down at mountain goats climbing them cliffs like nothing.

[Machinebuilder]

I wish them the best of luck.

In the past week there have been 2 news stories about them evacuating people in the Great Smokey Mountain NP.
The one in yesterdays news was someone 13mi in that had broken their leg, and had to be transported out on a wheeled litter.

It is not uncommon for the National guard to send a helicopter to airlift someone out.

[doc henderson]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WlZ973NMsUo