Another rescue?

[tastrax]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 040742.htm

I cant wait to hear more details about this one...

[ILUVSWTAS]

Yeh that sounds stupid. Why would you go up there with the weather that was forecast, if you wernt able to deal with it??
Of course there could be more to it... I wonder how far along they were. Anywhere on the Mt Anne circuit is never more than 1 full days walking to reach the road.

[Son of a Beach]

More details from the Examiner here.

Seems that once the track was obscured by snow, they didn't know which way to go or what else to do.

PS. The Examiner thinks Mt Anne is in the Central Highlands.

[Phil]

And that cost the tasmanian tax payer how much?

As you alluded to Mark; why were they up there given the forecast if they were not confident in the conditions?

[tasadam]

Examiner - Mount Anne in the Central Highlands
ABC - Mount Ann in the state's south west.
Clearly two different rescues... And both of them on mountains I wasn't aware of until now.

I don't have a problem with people being rescued if they felt the need -

"They felt in enough trouble to activate it," he said.

Exactly the reason why you should be rescued.
I do have a problem with them going there ill-equipped or ill-prepared for the conditions. And as we are all bushwalkers (a minority group), we are all tainted with the same brush.

were wet and cold, but not hypothermic, when found.

were picked up by a helicopter at 4.55pm.

Wet?? Then the PLB (and subsequent extraction) really did save their life. Great result!

Does anyone think a more clear sign at the start of these walks might be appropriate? Simple things that people MUST be aware of when going to places like that, like it can snow at any time with little or no warning, that the winds can clear out what little cobweb matter you might have left between the lugs (or something like that), and that a minimum equipment list must INCLUDE (so the sign doesn't have to spell everything out) good waterproof clothing, adequate of keeping you dry in a torrential downpour. Something about navigation skills too, in case it snows or fogs in and you cannot see the track any more. Something that clearly says if you lose the track here and feel you would be in danger or incapable of finding your way as a result, then you definitely should not go here...
Then if someone needs rescued for being ill-equipped and the like, there might be a case for the police to take a more agressive role, such as an official warning or prosecution... Problem with that, people that are silly enough to get themselves into avoidable strife might also be silly enough not to call for help when they really need it, fearing such retribution.
I am always in favour of someone being rescued (whatever the cause), given the alternative. And I am thankful that we live in a society that has such services available. It's the senseless rescues that I have the problem with - the careless things that people do to put themselves in danger when it should have been avoided.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Does anyone think a more clear sign at the start of these walks might be appropriate? Simple things that people MUST be aware of when going to places like that, like it can snow at any time with little or no warning,

This is the point. They had AMPLE warning. The forecast was for snow to 600m in the south... what the freak did they expect!!!!!

And yeh 2 new mountians for me to climb, Mt Ann in the SW and Mt Anne in the Central Highlands!! Good to see journo's dont need ANY knowledge of ANYTHING to get a job eh.......

[kramster]

The Mockery has an article for yet another rescue - this time from Lake Anne, near Lake Pedder...
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/10/18/179881_tasmania-news.html

[Son of a Beach]

Lake Anne??? ah, that's priceless. Maybe we should set up a fund for journalists to get a clue.

Seriously though, how can they possibly get it so wrong. They must be just making up random facts off the top of their head or something simply in order to fill in the blanks.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Hehe yeh thats funny.
Next we'll be hearing about a rescue off the Federation river

[ollster]

Well, I'm "worried about the weather conditions" for my walk home this arvo from work. *&%$#!, I might just call the helicopter.

RARWAARARARARAR!!! These people are flapping twitwads!

Worth noting I was up the NE ridge a few weeks ago (knowing full well the weather would be rubbish, but hoping it wasn't), camped on a metre of snow and got turned back by weather that never lifted as the BOM indicated it might, and walked out after one night. And that was with the rather awful prospect of having to walk 21kms along the road back to the car as we'd been dropped off the day before. I should've just called in the copter! Silly ME!

[tasadam]

These are too good to let slip by...

ABC

ABC.jpg (51.75 KiB) Viewed 10230 times

Examiner

Mercury

Mercury.jpg (21.4 KiB) Viewed 10230 times

[Phil]

It's the senseless rescues that I have the problem with - the careless things that people do to put themselves in danger when it should have been avoided.

Certainly Adam I am also thankful that both men are safe and well after their trip to Lake Anne, or was it Mt Anne on the Central Highlands......sorry, or was it Mt Ann in the South-West?

But with the weather that was forecast (snow to 600m); and based on what I've read so far, I think that they did act carelessly to some degree and did put themselves in a dangerous situation that should have been avoided.

I don't think the argument is whether they should or shouldn't have set off the EPIRB, but rather what the hell were they doing up there in the first place given the conditions forecast!!

[ollster]

Thank god the journalists don't fly helicopters.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I don't think the argument is whether they should or shouldn't have set off the EPIRB, but rather what the hell were they doing up there in the first place given the conditions forecast!!

Spot on Phil!!! Unless they were going up to do some snow caving, why would you bother!!

No respect for the Tasmanian conditions these people!!!

[ollster]

Hey admins - can we have a "hall of shame" for these?

[stepbystep]

Hey admins - can we have a "hall of shame" for these?

for the journo's or the bushwalkers..??

[ollster]

Hey admins - can we have a "hall of shame" for these?

for the journo's or the bushwalkers..??

LOL, fair call. Both.

[Son of a Beach]

Thank god the journalists don't fly helicopters.

That had me laughing out loud.

[tasadam]

It seems the media get the facts from the Tasmania Police website and leave bits out, change some detail, confuse themselves in the process, then post their confusing tale for all to read.

Reading the Examiner, I got the impression that the helicopter dropped the rescue party 2km away from them, they walked to find them, then the helicopter flew in to extract them from where they were.
No mention anywhere of the info that they walked back to the helicopter drop off zone... Why would the Examiner leave that out?

I found this -
http://www.police.tas.gov.au/news/posts ... ke-peddar/

Tas Police

All 3 media reports say that two helicopters were used, is that right? Can you believe that? No mention of two helicopters in the police media release... I got the impression from the Police report that the helicopter landed at Strathgordon for a while due to conditions, then flew the ground crew in 2km from them.

The Examiner says the helicopter landed 2KM from them (for the rescue party), the Mercury says the rescue party was lowered to them. The police report says the rescue party were "dropped off" 2km away which could mean land, or winch down, or lower close to the ground and jump... Who would know! At least the Mercury mention that they were escorted 2km to the pickup point.

[Son of a Beach]

So now we also have "Lake Peddar" to add to the media/press-release hall of shame as well. This time from the police.

[tasadam]

Another thing that bothered me from the Mercury report -

Tasmania's unseasonal cold snap caught them by surprise.

What's unseasonal about snow, wind, rain, cloud and all that guf when you are in southwest Tasmania?
Photos from Shelf Camp, summer 2008 - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1141&p=9092&hilit=summer#p9092

[ILUVSWTAS]

Thing that I find upsetting by that is the forecast was for ordinary weather, so it took NO-ONE by surprise!!

[tasadam]

So now we also have "Lake Peddar" to add to the media/press-release hall of shame as well. This time from the police.

Tas police aren't alone there -

peddar.jpg (8.91 KiB) Viewed 10186 times

pedder.jpg (8.11 KiB) Viewed 10186 times

[ollster]

So now we also have "Lake Peddar" to add to the media/press-release hall of shame as well. This time from the police.

Tas police aren't alone there -

There are people on this site guilty of calling it "Lake Peddar"... *cough* eggs *cough*.

[tastrax]

For information - here is the sign that is being progressively installed at the start of walking tracks in the Southwest. Already in place at Mt Anne.

Standard Hazard sign for Remote Southwest Tracks

[ollster]

I see you've left space for the "EPIRBS are not free helicopter tickets" text and symbol?

[tasadam]

Is that wildfires symbol dude skiing?

[Son of a Beach]

Please note that (as mentioned to me by PM), we should not be criticising these people for using the EPIRB and for being rescued. No matter how they got there, it's good that they've been rescued from a situation that was probably life threatening (as far as they could tell).

However, critical analysis of how they got into a situation that required rescuing is another matter altogether, and well worth discussing, so long as we avoid attacking the people in a personal way, of course.

[ollster]

Please note that (as mentioned to me by PM), we should not be criticising these people for using the EPIRB and for being rescued.

Were they:
a) Injured?
b) lost?
c) sick?
d) otherwise unable to self-extract themselves due to catastrophic equipment failure etc?

You're right of course, we should be criticising them for being stupid.

PS: I think the sign needs a "Beware of low flying helicopters" warning.

[Son of a Beach]

Please note that (as mentioned to me by PM), we should not be criticising these people for using the EPIRB and for being rescued.

Were they:
a) Injured?
b) lost?
c) sick?
d) otherwise unable to self-extract themselves due to catastrophic equipment failure etc?

You're right of course, we should be criticising them for being stupid.

From what I've read, they were unable to extract themselves because they could not see the track because it was covered in snow. Therefore as far as they could tell, rescue was their only option, and therefore the right thing for them to do.

However, I agree that (with the very limited information we have) it does seem rather stupid for them to have got into that situation in the first place if they do not know how to deal with it, especially considering the wealth of information available on the conditions that can be expected around Mt Anne at any time of year, and the weather forecast which predicted pretty much what they got.

So it seems to me that they were ill prepared or lacking in knowledge and experience and should not have been there in those conditions.

People who get themselves into those situation should (usually) be able to get themselves out of it unless something catastrophic happens. However, they were not able to get themselves out of it (weren't able to navigate, it seems), therefore they had little other option.

Yes, they should have been able to navigate and get themselves out of it, but it appears that they were not up to the task (which is why they probably should not have been there in those conditions, given the weather forecast).

That is why I suggest that we should not criticise them for activating the EPIRB to get rescued, but rather discuss how they got into the situation where rescue was required.