The occasion was the annual assessment of the LandSAR avalanche dog team. Each operational dog and their handler had to find two "live burials" of volunteers and an article of clothing in 20 minutes to pass the test.
Twelve dogs attended, including two from Mt Ruapehu’s ski areas, and two dogs in training.
LandSAR Dogs national avalanche co-ordinator Karyn Robertson said to become operational the dogs had to undergo a rigorous assessment procedure and achieve the standards set by NZ LandSAR and the NZ Police Dog Section.
Senior Sergeant Chris Best, of the Police Dog Training Centre at Trentham, was one of the assessors during the weekend.
"The commitment of the handler and the agility of the dogs was very, very good."
LandSAR dogs chairman Fritz van Rooden said it took hundreds of hours to train an avalanche dog.
"It’s not a case of a handler giving it their best shot. They have to reach the highest standard."
Ms Robertson said with more and more skiers and snowboarders venturing into the "slack country", the area just outside the patrolled ski field, there was a higher risk of being caught in an avalanche. She said the only way to find someone trapped in snow and not wearing a transponder was by an avalanche trained rescue dog.
Dogs would continue to be used because of their sense of smell and the speed they could cover the ground, she said.
The most common breed was Labrador, because they were hardy, had big feet, a double coat and were very well suited to getting through the snow.
This winter there were four avalanche call-outs in New Zealand ski areas including one at Treble Cone. In all four cases the sites were cleared by the dogs to make sure no-one was buried, Ms Robertson said.
