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A CLIMBER TRAPPED for seven days in freezing conditions on a New Zealand mountain has been found in the nick of time, with rescuers saying he was unlikely to have survived another night alone.
Terry Harch, a 29-year-old Australian soldier, was spotted waving his arm in the snow on the South Island’s notorious Mount Aspiring, where more than 30 climbers have died over the past decade.
His emergency beacon signal was picked up in the United States and the coordinates relayed to New Zealand rescue authorities.
Rescuers managed to reach Harch late yesterday and he was airlifted out during a break in bad weather today.
“It’s a great result, as we did not want the climber spending another night on the mountain. The aim now is to get him to hospital for immediate treatment,” senior rescue co-ordinator Neville Blakemore said.
Search and rescue officer Geoff Lunt said Harch had “clearly made some good decisions to be able to survive the bad weather, heavy snow and high winds”.
Helicopter pilot Sean Mullally said initial missions up the mountain did not detect any sign of Harch and it was not until the fourth sweep that they saw his waving arm.
“He is very lucky to be alive. I don’t think he would have lasted another night,” Mullally told the New Zealand Herald.
Harch, an experienced climber in New Zealand’s treacherous Southern Alps, activated his distress beacon on Monday, the day he was due to come off the mountain.
The signal from the private tracking device was picked up by a supplier in Texas.
Bad weather conditions
The region has seen a lot of fresh snow in the past few days. The wind chill factor is minus 16 degrees Celsius and the avalanche advisory is high.
A rescue team reached Harch yesterday with warm clothing, tents and food as they waited for the weather to improve.
New Zealand Mountain Safety Council chief executive Mike Daisley said winter mountaineering was a high-risk activity and in this case “the right call was probably not to go”.
“I know he’s come a long way to tick this one off, but it’s just not worth the ultimate price,” Daisley said.
New Zealand attracts climbers from around the world and has on average 37 mountain search and rescue missions a year.
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Best decision he ever made. Buying that emergency beacon.
@Paraic:
€200 is all it takes to potentially save a life, either in the mountains or at sea.
@Paraic: you can get them for boats as well there called an Eperb they go off automatically if they get wet.
A fellow had one before going up to Dublin in the boot off his car and it got wet it went off and few minutes later the rescue helicopter was over his head.
Heard of a team of 9 getting turned back by bad weather from the Caradhras Pass, which is nearby apparently. Rough spot.
There must be an algorithm in the prepraparrd news website that makes suggestions on what news you might be interested in based on previous clicks. This week it looks like newzeland is the subliminal topic of interest.
@Markonline:
Probably because the Prime Minister is back to work after months off having a baby.
Funny ting was she wasn’t even missed, the country ran perfectly well in her absence.
@Jimmy Coltrane: I’d reckon that might apply for most prime ministers around the world
@Jimmy Coltrane: so this young man’s suffering is the perfect place to make a snide, misogynistic and political comment eh Jimmy?
@Bridget O’Hanlon: Don’t be too harsh on Jimmy, he’s a few cans short of a sixpack
There’s sheep at ground level too.
have your say