Australian missing on Mt Cook

[Overlandman]

Sorry Wayno, I just noticed that you posted similar on the same subject in Bushwalking discussion forum

From ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-31/b ... in/5994764

A search will resume on New Year's Day for three men, including an Australian, who went missing on New Zealand's Mount Cook on Monday.

It is believed the trio were attempting to reach the summit of the mountain, New Zealand's highest, when they were last seen.

They have been named as Dr Michael Bishop, a 53-year-old from Sydney, and German Raphael Viellehner and his son Johann.

Senior Constable Brent Swanson said an aerial search was started on Wednesday morning, but was halted by bad weather.

"The weather in the search zone is high winds and snow falling at the moment," he said.

"Heavy rain is currently falling in the village.

"It is hoped that the men have dug themself a snow shelter or similar and are waiting for the weather to clear."

Constable Swanson said the weather was expected to improve on Thursday, which would allow the search to resume.

There are no huts where the men are believed to be, and they did not have an emergency locator beacon with them.

"We're very concerned for their safety ... obviously the location in the park, and with the weather, we have concerns for their safety," he said.

The three climbers were last seen roped together as they climbed towards the summit of the mountain on Monday morning.

Alpine guides said conditions were reasonably good, but crevasses were an issue along with unstable snow bridges.

The two older men were described as experienced mountaineers and Dr Bishop has previously climbed in the Mount Cook region on South Island.

Mount Cook, also known by its Maori name Aoraki, is New Zealand's highest peak at 3,754 metres, and is a popular challenge for mountaineers from around the world because of the skills required to reach the summit.

It has claimed more than 200 lives since it was first conquered in 1894.

[wayno]

Mt Cook had been missing climber's Christmas wish
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11380800

[wayno]

Helicopter search this morning fails to find any sign of missing climbers

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11380937

[GPSGuided]

Fingers crossed for them!

[wayno]

they are most likely dead, they know the route they need to search, its unlikely that they were all so incapacitated but alive one couldnt crawl to the surface to raise the attention of the helicopter. it was hot the day they walked they were out all day, some instability in the snow or ice in the area has likely killed them now they are buried under a foot of snow and probably in a crevasse.

[wayno]

A two-metre deep snowfall has hidden any sign of their tracks and locating their exact position has been made more difficult by the fact the German father and son chose not to carry a locator beacon when they signed in for their climb. It's unclear whether Mr Bishop was carrying one.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/missing-climbers-only-equipped-day-trip-son-confirms-6213893

[GPSGuided]

Easy to say in retrospect but the question really needs to be asked. Why did they choose not to carry a PLB?

[wayno]

over confidence. even the very experienced can make odd decisions. a very experienced tramper who died in NZ never used one, never used a map or compass. he always got through and assumed he always would till the weather got the better of him one day...
debateable whether one would have made a difference... avalanche or crevasse collapse could have swept them to their deaths..

[RonK]

Reports seem to indicate these climbers have enough experience to survive a spell of bad weather, so their disappearance likely indicates some misadventure, a fall or avalanche. A PLB is only useful if you are able to activate it.

[wayno]

theres numerous cases of climbers sheltering in crevasses, schrunds and snow caves around Cook and emerging safely after a storm.. but not this time...

[JohnStrider]

Very sad. But i guess it's like the old saying..."failing to prepare is preparing to fail"...except it appears this situation is an extreme failure

[wayno]

with alpine climbing some things are in the lap of the gods. avalanche, serac fall. crevasse or snow bridge collapse...

[roysta]

I must say though Wayne, no personal beacon?
What are some of these climbers thinking?

[wayno]

I must say though Wayne, no personal beacon?
What are some of these climbers thinking?

go hard or go home?
there was a thread on the NZ alpine club facebook page that was full of flames...
there was a group of climbers who only believe in self rescue and refuse any form of electronic aid to help in rescue, if anything goes wrong they implicitly believe you are totally responsible for yourself and your own group and should avoid getting outside help..
the NZ alpine clubs report on the deaths last year of climbers who died of hypothermia on mt taranaki, completely took apart the way the climbing group was run, even relative novices fresh out of alpine training on easier mt ruapehu were told they had to look after themselves and not look to anyone else for leadership and decision making, a lot more people almost went to their deaths that day, there were a dozen in the parties involved, there was fragmented decision making and luckily some experienced people turned back the slower less experienced people and they narrowly escaped disaster themselves..
the alpine club have completely overhauled how they run their trips as a result.
i did a course with the alpine club, anyone taking a fall could be laughed at by senior members.. it wasnt that supportive, you had to get your crap together because no one was going to offer psychological support, you had to just handle the vertical slopes and the technical difficulties. to a certain extent it was go hard or go home... no doubt the old hands had already lost friends from climbing deaths, if you want to persist in alpine climbing you will eventually know people who die and suffer serious injuries from climbing... you need to be mentally tough, but just how tough?

you can read an account of the report here and the coroners inquest which goes into extended details of the disastrous trip.
and search and rescue operation that couldnt save their lives in the extreme weather

https://alpineclub.org.nz/section-resou ... i-incident

[JohnStrider]

And yet the army believes you are only as strong as the man next to you.

That's a ridiculous mentality that that club has.

[JohnStrider]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-30670959

They've called off the search.