probable drowning. aspiring park

[wayno]

I just came off the routeburn. Over a foot of rain in a day. Milford. Half a metre. Trampers stuck at huts. One waterfall on the routeburn delayed trampers a few hours when it flooded down the bypass track. It drenched me going past. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6808240 ... t-aspiring

[GPSGuided]

Terrible!

[wayno]

crossing a river is always optional, never compulsory. even if it means you have to wait for several days or travel a lot further, if you're not confident, dont cross a river you arent confident with

[GPSGuided]

Comes with experience and available backup gears.

[gayet]

But it sounds like the pack and rain jacket had been left so rather than trying to cross, perhaps she slipped and fell while investigating potential crossing? Probably need not have got that close but....

[wayno]

But it sounds like the pack and rain jacket had been left so rather than trying to cross, perhaps she slipped and fell while investigating potential crossing? Probably need not have got that close but....

ever been close or in a decent NZ river in flood? they often have enough force and the curent violent enough to strip your clothes off you, people who drown are often found later stripped of some or all of their clothes... default practice is undo your pack before you cross...
nz rivers can loose a lot of height in a shot distance, when they flood the water can flow very fast and be extremely turbulent.

[wayno]

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-la ... swept-away

[GPSGuided]

What does it mean by 'piled route'?

[wayno]

What does it mean by 'piled route'?

poled. the route or parts of it are only marked by snow poles..

[GPSGuided]

Thanks. Auto correction error. Does that mean there's snow cover up there presently? Part of the difficulties at present? Without snow, poled route shouldn't be difficult, right?

[wayno]

Thanks. Auto correction error. Does that mean there's snow cover up there presently? Part of the difficulties at present? Without snow, poled route shouldn't be difficult, right?

sorry i'm not doing twenty questions. i've only jsut got back had minimal sleep. up at 3am to make it to my bus...

[GPSGuided]

Get some rest. Fingers crossed on the missing.

[wayno]

Get some rest. Fingers crossed on the missing.

chances of surviving that river when its flooded without a decent flotation devices are next to zero. the abandoned clothes indicate they were probably forced off by the force of the water in the river, unfortunately her loved ones should be prepared for the worst, my sincere condolences to her loved ones.

[Zone-5]

I can understand why people hike there but so many have died in this park, surely some sort of training is required before you get a Park Pass?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6473867 ... ional-park

[GPSGuided]

Or more bridges and safe crossings? But then that'll also spoil the natural beauty of the place and encounter resistance amongst the hard core trampers.

[wayno]

Or more bridges and safe crossings? But then that'll also spoil the natural beauty of the place and encounter resistance amongst the hard core trampers.

bottomless pit trying to bridge unsafe crossings in nz... nzers were brought up to take responsibility for your own safety , decision making and risk assessment..

[whynotwalk]

Flooded river near Glenorchy, NZ

river in flood.jpg (49.46 KiB) Viewed 31497 times

There's no way DoC or anyone else could make the thousands of rivers/burns/creeks/streams in NZ safe for trampers. And they can all look like the one in this pic after enough rain - and only a certain number can be bridged like this one. As wayno says, river crossing is one of the skills trampers need to learn early and often in NZ. And it comes down to judgement whether to cross, retreat or wait it out.

This is very sad - my sympathy to the family, friends ... and also the searchers.

cheers

Peter

[GPSGuided]

Yes, not realistic. Can see that.

[wayno]

choose your track wisely... be prepared to be delayed a day or more in heavy rain, if you have good weather, consider doing extra miles, make hay while the sun shines and take the time pressure off when the bad weather comes.

[GPSGuided]

Does NZ NPs permit tents along the tracks? Guess in an emergency, do whatever to survive.

[wayno]

Does NZ NPs permit tents along the tracks? Guess in an emergency, do whatever to survive.

allowed everywhere except great walks outside of designated great walks campsites.. and outside of tracks through some "sacred Maori areas" and private land.

[Whits]

You can even camp on the Tongariro crossing, so long as you are 200m or more from the track.

[wayno]

You can even camp on the Tongariro crossing, so long as you are 200m or more from the track.

500m not 200 and its getting off topic

[JohnStrider]

Very sad news indeed

[Zone-5]

If you don't like it, then don't cross it!

I learnt very young as a camper around the Diamantina during big flood times is that you wait it out as long as you have enough supplies to do that. The family would set up camp just off the road from a flooded river causeway that was un-crossable and spend the next couple of days waiting for the river to drop (which they always did) but spent most of our time rescuing and towing out impatient drivers attempting to forge swollen causeways and getting washed off them...

One lucky driver for your entertainment...

[wayno]

waiting out a flood is a common strategy high up on the option of priorities in a lot of places in NZ. higher up unfortunately than a lot of people allow for...
the dusky track is notorious for becoming impassable in rain and you plan your trip allowing for at least a couple of days delay due to rain. if you don't like the thought of that, don't go..

[GPSGuided]

International tourists usually have the urge to keep to schedule. Sounds like a lot of education is required.

[wayno]

International tourists usually have the urge to keep to schedule. Sounds like a lot of education is required.

they often don't have a clue when a river crossing is too dangerous...

[andrewa]

Off topic, I know, and I'll take a slap from Wayno for it, but Zone-S, that is an amazing video..

[wayno]

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/ ... body-found

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