Climber survives plunge down mountain

BY SALLY KIDSON

A Wellington climber who survived a 400-metre slide down a mountain in Marlborough, escaping without even a broken bone, says he was going so fast on the solid ice he could not stop.

Gareth Cooper, 50, was this morning in a comfortable condition in Nelson Hospital.

Mr Cooper said he was with a party of four men which had reached the 2885m summit of Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku on Saturday and was at 2600m on the descent when he fell.

"I don't know why I fell. It could have been the solid ice, but I don't actually remember," Mr Cooper said from his hospital bed. "I do remember the descent, I was airborne on occasion and going at speed. I was conscious all the way down, but, because of the solid ice and speed I was going, I couldn't use my ice axe to self-arrest."

Mr Cooper said as soon as he stopped falling he realised he was OK.

Amazingly, he broke no bones.

"The backpack saved my back but I do have some bruising. I was sliding on solid ice, which is not smooth at all," he said. "NZ MacPac, you can't beat it."

After the fall, his climbing companions were able to climb down to reach Mr Cooper. His companions looked after him in an effort to ward off hypothermia, and found a place for the Summit rescue helicopter to land on the ice.

"When the boys found me they kept pushing me on so I didn't get hypothermia."

Mr Cooper was carrying a GPS-equipped locator beacon which he set off at 1pm.

However, because the signal was in the lee of the mountain it was four hours until a passing satellite picked it up.

The way the helicopter was able to pinpoint his position was incredible, he said.

"I can't believe that after that length of fall, I might get to go home today. Again, I can't say how important the locator beacon was."

Mr Cooper also wanted to express his gratitude to the rescue team and hospital staff.

"When I came into Nelson emergency department the team knew exactly what to do and had me sorted. They brought my body temperature back up as I was in the early stages of hypothermia."

Summit Rescue Helicopter pilot Duncan Gourley said the fact the party was equipped with a GPS emergency beacon meant the location they were supplied was less than 200m from where they landed. This was a huge timesaver, he said.

"If they didn't have the beacon, no-one would've known they were in trouble. If they didn't have a GPS beacon it would've taken longer to go up there and search for them."

Mr Gourley said the men were found in a basin in an area known as Staircase Creek. The weather was fine and the rescue was straightforward.

He said rescuers took as much of Mr Cooper's gear out as possible, and the other three men walked out with the rest of his gear.

St John Ambulance team manager Jon Leach said the man had slid about 400m, was sore, "bruised, battered" and hypothermic.

"He had been through a washing machine," Mr Leach said.

"It was pretty extreme, in extreme country."

- © Fairfax NZ News