Injured tramper rescued

BY BEN STRANG

Two trampers were lifted to safety on Sunday morning after a 64-year-old Levin man slipped and injured his leg after going down a rock face.

The man and a 42-year-old Feilding woman spent an uncomfortable night in the Tararua Ranges about 20 kilometres southeast of Paraparaumu, after setting off a personal locator beacon.

The initial beacon alert was received at about 11pm on Saturday night, with a satellite identifying its approximate position in the ranges an hour later.

The man was unable to move to the nearby Elder Hutt the pair huddled under emergency blankets next to the Renata Ridge Track until help arrived.

Poor weather meant the Wellington Life Flight Helicopter was not able to travel to the area until dawn, but low cloud cover then scuppered the rescue attempts.

Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand put in place plans for a land search and rescue team to be dropped in.

However a Palmerston North-based HeliPro helicopter flew over the area to determine the exact location of the trampers, and in a break in the weather was able to pick the pair up.

They were taken to the Kapiti Health Centre.

Search and rescue co-ordinator Ramon Davis said the trampers' personal locator beacon was helpful, however, as it was unregistered it delayed RCCNZ in knowing who was involved. Mr Davis said that all beacon owners should ensure their details and their emergency contacts are kept up to date.

The rapid assembly of the search and rescue team demonstrated how quickly and effectively resources could be mobilised when required for a rescue effort, he said.

- Kapiti Observer