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Story of Deaths on Mt Taranaki 2013

PostPosted: Sat 07 Oct, 2017 6:07 am
by wayno
Labour Weekend 2013. Ten Auckland Alpine Club members set out to climb Mt Taranaki’s difficult East Ridge. A major storm was brewing but they thought they could beat it. Six got down safely. Two veered off course and spent an awful night out in the blizzard. Two more were marooned high on the mountain and clung to life for two nights, texting pleas for help. Nikki Macdonald investigates what went wrong, and recounts the epic efforts of volunteer searchers who tried, tried and tried again to reach the trapped pair.

https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2017/1 ... -two-dead/

Re: Deaths on Mt Taranaki 2013

PostPosted: Sat 07 Oct, 2017 8:25 am
by Tortoise
Thanks for posting, Wayno. Even though I know what the conditions can be like, it's still very sobering.

Re: Story of Deaths on Mt Taranaki 2013

PostPosted: Sat 07 Oct, 2017 1:08 pm
by ofuros
Yes, its a terrible tale of woe....

Re: Story of Deaths on Mt Taranaki 2013

PostPosted: Sun 08 Oct, 2017 2:51 am
by wayno
event experienced people can come to grief, experience isnt a panacea to cope with all situations in the outdoors. you dont have to be high in the himalayas in winter to get into severe situations.... it can happen in spring, in places like NZ too.
SAR arent always going to be able to bale you out by default... a lot of rescues in NZ people are lucky to be found, because they rely on cell phones for communication, which often have no coverage in the wilderness. although in nz you're probably more likely to have coverage than in aus, you're still going to be lucky to have coverage and your battery life is a lot shorter when you're further from cell phone towers because the battery has to run on maximum power to maintain a connection. whereas around town it is more likely to be able to run on minimum power.
theres a real trend now to go "fast and light" but if something happens that stops you from being able to keep moving and means you spend an unplanned night in the open, a lot of the fast and light crowd don't have enough gear and clothing with them to guarantee their survival in cold conditions...