Perseverance pays off for injured tramper

A party of three were walking from the head of Lake Hauroko towards Midway Hut last night, when one person took a wrong turn. The other two failed to find the missing man last night, so they activated their beacon at this morning and continued their search. They located the missing tramper, and switched the beacon off at 12.20pm this afternoon. Meanwhile, one of the men had injured his leg during the search.

RCCNZ tasked a rescue helicopter from Southern Lakes Helicopters, Te Anau to locate the source of the distress beacon. At around 1pm this afternoon the helicopter flew over the hut in which the trampers were staying, at which time they re-activated their beacon to help the helicopter locate them and fly the injured man to Te Anau.

Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator Dave Wilson says the narrow valley in which the trampers were located, and the height of the surrounding mountains, complicated the search. The perseverance of the helicopter crew ensured a successful outcome.

“It’s great to have a successful conclusion, and this is a good reminder about how useful personal locator beacons are if you ever get in distress in a remote location.

“But it’s important that trampers buy 406MHz frequency beacons rather than others on the market. The position information is more accurate, and from 2009 only these types of beacons will be detected by satellite, which in this particular case was the only means of notifying us that someone needed help,” he said.