A coroner has found hypothermia was the cause of death of a Czech tourist on a Fiordland track three years ago - describing it as an alpine mishap.
A photo of Pavlina Pizova with her partner Ondrej Petr, who died while tramping in Otago. Photo: NZ Police
The coroner's report released today has detailed the events that led to the death of Ondrej Petr, who was on a six-day tramp on Fiordland's Routeburn walk, with his partner Pavlina Pizova in 2016.
Despite having seen multiple weather warnings to not to walk the alpine track the couple decided to do it anyway.
Three days into the tramp Mr Petr, 27, died from hypothermia and his partner Ms Pizova survived by breaking into a warden's hut and was found by a Department of conservation worker one month on.
Afterwards, on 30 July, Ms Pizova could see a hut down in the valley and decided to go straight down towards Lake Mackenzie.
After traversing large boulders around the edge of the lake and falling into the lake, Ms Pizova reached the approach to the hut. Two fixed-wing aircraft flew over the lake, but she could not attract their attention. She reached the hut in the early afternoon.
Ms Pizova was able to break into the warden's hut, where she had access to food, blankets and a radio. Unfortunately, she was unable to work the radio, or read the instructions for it because they were in English only. She slept, before lighting a fire and cooking some food.
Over the following days, Ms Pizova took stock of her injuries and frostbite. She located gas bottles, newspaper and twigs for making a fire, as well as other useful tools to help her survive.
During her time in the hut, Ms Pizova saw aircraft flying in the area and waved clothing to attract attention. On one occasion, Ms Pizova heard helicopters, so she attempted to use ashes from the fire to make the letter "H" for help outside in a clearing, hoping that someone would see it. Ms Pizova was still in a lot of pain from frostbite of her hands and feet, and this made it difficult for her to sleep.
Over the days, Ms Pizova tried to make crampons and other gear with the plan of walking out of the track to The Divide near Te Anau. She lost all confidence when the gear fell to pieces on a test walk.
The coroner found the pair to be unprepared, and not experienced enough to make informed decisions, which led to them taking a short-cut off the main track.
The coroner left any recommendations to the Mountain Safety council and the Department of Conservation, which had criticised the pair's behaviour.
The couple came to New Zealand in February 2016 on a working holiday. They travelled around, then worked in Motueka picking apples before travelling to the South Island, intending to get work in Queenstown for the winter.
Mr Petr was a qualified snowboard instructor and Ms Pizova intended to find work in hospitality, but they were unsuccessful.
The couple had tramped elsewhere in New Zealand, and decided to do some in the Queenstown area before deciding what they would do next.
Ms Pizova told the police that she and Mr Petr visited the DOC centre in Queenstown to get information before they went, and to check whether it was "suitable to go".
They were told not to go due to the dangerous and harsh winter conditions, but the couple thought they would "give it a go" as there had been no new snow at the time.
The area where Pavlina Pizova was trapped for almost a month. Photo: NZ Police
Ms Pizova said that "one of the big mistakes" she and Mr Petr made was not notifying anyone of their plans, because of their desire to avoid paying for the use of huts on the track.
The Mountain Safety Council Report stated that the actual weather forecast for the highest point of the Routeburn Track, showed it to be -11C for the date the pair would have been expected to be in that area. The weather forecast became worse the following day, with forecasts of heavy rain, snow to 500m and gale force winds - "essentially a snow storm or blizzard".
Mr Petr did not have several critical pieces of equipment, such as a waterproof jacket, waterproof overpants or snow gaiters, and the pair did not carry essential winter tramping equipment.
The safety council found that although the ultimate cause of Mr Petr's death was hypothermia, there were many opportunities to make decisions that "almost certainly" would have led to a different outcome.
The exterior of the warden's hut which Pavlina Pizova stayed in. Photo: NZ Police
DOC social science manager Edy MacDonald, said "young males ignoring warnings … [it] is not restricted to New Zealand… Young males have a propensity for risk, especially physical risk".
Ms MacDonald said overseas tourists may overestimate their ability and experience when adventuring in New Zealand, and referred to this as optimism bias, which she said is very difficult to mitigate.
The pair ignored advice from DOC visitor centre staff not to complete the Routeburn in winter and, after receiving that advice, did not talk further to DOC staff. That may have been due to the intention not to buy hut passes.
The DOC report concluded that the signage on the Routeburn Track met DOC best practice, however it failed to change the behaviour of Mr Petr and Ms Pizova, which it said led to the alpine misadventure.
Mountain Safety Council spokesperson Nick Kingstone said the incident was a wake-up call for people to take their advice seriously when preparing for overnight tramps.
He said tourists should be aware that New Zealand tramping tracks were self-managed, unlike other places around the world.
Punishing terrain and fast-changing weather conditions when tramping, especially in Fiordland should never be underestimated, Federated Mountains Club president Jan Finlayson said.
She said people should always check the weather forecast, tell people about their plans, have an ice axe, crampons, sufficient winter gear and a locator beacon on hand.
