Avalanche risk 'considerable'

Aoraki/Mount Cook. Mt Hicks is the ridge dome to the left hand side. Photo: via NZME
Aoraki/Mount Cook. Mt Hicks is the ridge dome to the left hand side. Photo: via NZME
Two mountain guides were swept to their deaths by an avalanche in an area of Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park under a "dangerous avalanche conditions" warning.

Auckland woman Jo Morgan survived the incident, spending an hour digging herself out of snow and activating her personal locator beacon.

The two guides - Martin Hess and Wolfgang Maier, both in their 50s, originally from Germany but New Zealand residents - were experienced. Mr Hess lived in the Ida Valley, while Mr Maier had lived in Tekapo but now resided in Perth.

Martin Hess
Martin Hess

The incident occurred on Mt Hicks, which had earlier been the subject of a "considerable risk, dangerous avalanche conditions ... conservative decision-making essential" warning.

A high or extreme advisory would have indicated climbers should not venture out at all, while "considerable risk" suggested experienced climbers could proceed with caution.

Mountain Safety Council communications manager Nick Kingston said there were five advisory levels - low, moderate, considerable, high and extreme.

At 2am yesterday, after two days of waiting in the Empress hut for the weather to clear, the trio left to climb the south side of Mt Hicks.

They reached the summit, but on the way down the southwest ridge, at 5.30am, all three - who were roped together - were hit by an avalanche estimated by the Mountain Safety Council to contain about 100 tonnes of loose, wet snow spread across a wide face.

Mrs Morgan, an adventurer, writer and philanthropist and wife of economist Gareth Morgan, told RNZ she was "gobsmacked" after climbing out of the avalanche before realising her friends were not so lucky.

Wolfgang Maier
Wolfgang Maier

"Once I got my upper body out, I looked at the view and I just was gobsmacked," she said.

"I thought, 'Isn't this amazing?' And I know that's totally inappropriate but it was just such a beautiful place and the sun was just rising and at that stage, I knew there was no response when I'd been shouting out for the boys."

She told Newshub the two guides were "dear friends".

"We weren't being foolish or anything and we just hit a slope that ... it was laden with the type of snow that avalanches.

"They were buried and I was buried, too, but I had my face out so I could continue to breathe."

New Zealand Mountain Guide Association (NZMGA) president Jane Morris said both climbers were experienced in the Southern Alps.

"Martin has called New Zealand home for the last 20 years and Wolfgang would come and work from now until around February guiding New Zealand summers," she said.

Mr Maier was an internationally qualified mountain guide and Mr Hess had a qualification through the NZGMA.

"[Martin] was assisting Wolfgang with that ascent because Hicks is a relatively challenging peak.

"Guides do their best at making the safest possible decisions but you're dealing with a really dynamic environment, so Mother Nature is going to say the final say," she said.

Two helicopters, eight alpine cliff rescue people and an avalanche dog were involved in the rescue.

Police area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said in Timaru yesterday CPR was tried but without success. The bodies had been taken to Christchurch for autopsies and next-of-kin overseas were being located.

The group was well equipped and experienced and "knew what they could do to minimise risk, and they've done so, but on this occasion the mountain has beaten them".

Mrs Morgan was on the mountain as part of an effort to climb all 3000m peaks in New Zealand, he said.

It is understood she had climbed 22 peaks and Mt Hicks was the second to last. - Additional reporting NZME

 

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