Police are praising the sensible reactions of two
mountaineers who found themselves trapped for two nights on
Mt Tasman at the weekend.
A 23-year-old Australian man and a 25-year-old British man
failed to return from a climb on Saturday, when bad weather
trapped them in an inaccessible crevasse close to the summit.
Mid-South Canterbury area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin
said although severe weather conditions in the Southern Alps
during the past two days had raised concerns for their
welfare, members of the Aoraki/Mt Cook Rescue Team located
both men safe and well, in an inaccessible crevasse, early
yesterday.
A long-line rescue technique was used to winch the climbers
out by helicopter. Insp Gaskin said the men were airlifted to
Mt Cook village for medical assessment, but other than being
cold and wet, both appeared to be uninjured.
Little blame could be attached to the climbers, he said.
''The only thing you could possibly say they had done wrong
... is that they didn't allow a long-enough window of clear
weather. But overall, I would like to congratulate them on
the actions they took once they got into a position of some
predicament.''
He said the pair had reacted with textbook protocol: ''They
stopped where they were, they got dug in, they made shelter
and they waited for rescue.''
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