Ranger Ricki Mitchell moving carefully through the fog during the rescue on Wednesday morning. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
A trip to survey kea in the Nelson Lakes National Park turned into an overnight search and rescue mission for two Department of Conservation rangers, after they heard a person calling for help at nightfall in deteriorating weather.
DOC rangers Ricki Mitchell and Lana Handley had set up a camp at Hinapouri Tarn, near Mt Angelus, early last week on an excursion to monitor kea in the national park.
"It was a last-minute change actually, we were supposed to be on the St Arnaud Range but I saw there were quite a few [kea] calls coming from the Angelus area so we were up there doing some surveying," Mitchell said.
They had just caught a bird and were packing up for the night when Mitchell first heard what sounded like a call from across the valley.
She was not concerned at first, but when she got back to camp about 9pm, she and others heard several more calls that sounded like someone in distress.
Mitchell and Handley told the other campers they were going to investigate. Fog had begun to roll in and they were quickly losing visibility.
"We had a GPS so every time we would hear a call we plotted it and we spent a lot of time in those first two hours, walking along the track and trying to get better comms with the person.
"We heard this one really clear, distinct 'help me' and I turned to Lana and said 'this is getting pretty serious'.
"It was very dark, the fog was very thick and I decided we needed to set off the personal locator beacon and go back to camp to get the radio to get in touch with our operations manager."
Maniniaro/Mt Angelus in the Nelson Lakes in clear conditions. The rescue took place in the area in the centre of the photo. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
As she turned on the radio, the warden at Angelus Hut was also reporting that a hiker staying in the hut had seen an empty bunk and recalled passing a woman on the north ridge of Mt Angelus (Maniniaro) that day who had not returned.
Other incidents in the past
The area is a hotspot for tramping incidents in Aotearoa. Between 2010 and 2019, there were two fatalities and 51 people involved in search and rescue callouts when trying to access Angelus Hut.
Mitchell said she became increasingly concerned the woman calling out could not hear their replies.
"It was very broken, she was so far away that any attempt we were making with her was like a distant scream and it was hard to pick up words."
The two rangers met with the hut warden and the hiker who had noticed the missing woman and carried out a coordinated search until about 1am, but were forced by poor weather conditions to pause until first light.
Mitchell said that decision was one of the toughest she had ever had to make.
"It was a pretty hard moment, I was in the tent and I heard her call again for help and it was just a waiting game at that point until light came and we had more visibility."
She had an incredibly broken sleep and was up at 4am, resuming the search as the sun came up. It was some time before they heard the woman call again.
Angelus Hut. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
"We were scrambling down some crazy bluffy areas and we came over this wee hump and were yelling out to try and get a fix on her ... it was the first time we could hear her call and her words."
About 9am, they saw the woman for the first time below the north ridge of Mt Angelus, separated from them by a large bluff. They plotted her GPS position for a rescue, but the fog was still too thick for a helicopter to fly in and the LandSAR team assembling in St Arnaud was about six hours' walk away.
Mitchell and Handley were confident they could retrace the lost hiker's steps to avoid her waiting any longer. It took them several hours, but they were relieved to find her cold, wet, but uninjured about 1pm.
The woman was in high spirits given the ordeal and told them: "Woohoo, I was waiting for my rescuers."
She had remained positive throughout the night and kept moving to avoid hypothermia.
The trio walked to Angelus Hut, and after a night recovering, they all walked out of the park together on Thursday.
This map shows the location of Angelus Hut within the Nelson Lakes National Park. Photo: Supplied / LINZ
Mitchell said there were several important lessons to take from the experience.
"If you're going out, even for a short trip from the hut, tell someone your intentions and make sure you're carrying good equipment, including a PLB and head torch, at all times.
"We were lucky it worked out the way it did, given the horrendous weather. If she had to stay out another night, there was a real risk of hypothermia."
She said the rescue was a team effort and everyone involved worked closely together.
The Department of Conservation's Nelson Lakes operations manager John Wotherspoon said it was fortunate there were competent and experienced field staff who could safely rescue the woman from challenging terrain without putting themselves at risk.
"Nelson Lakes National Park has alpine conditions right from the carpark and the weather can change quickly, so it's crucial hikers check weather forecasts and carry warm waterproof clothes, food, head torches and a PLB at all times."
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