Cascade Saddle Mt Aspiring National Park

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to take a few more shots while helping search for a missing tramper [Irina Yun - now presumed drowned - if you wish to read a comprehensive overview of the scenario then Bob McKerrow a highly respected and experienced NZ mountaineer has compiled an overview on his blog].

The Cascade Saddle is actually the low point on the middle to top right of this photo. The original route way back in the days of my boyhood was called the "Ernie Smith route" if I recall correctly, and it was replaced by improving on what was to be a new evolving [safer?] route known as the "Cullers Route" which exited higher up at or near where I took this photo at "the Pylon". The current incarnation and improvements of that line descends from this point to the Cascade Stream [or river - take your pick], and then ascends again to the Cascade Saddle. Yes, lots of ups and downs, but an infinitely more straightforward route on relatively easier ground [as long as it's not wet]...

All week I have been pondering the sad fact that far too many people have died or come to grief in this "hard country", which can be so delightful on a good day, yet diabolical in any other sort of conditions, especially those featuring rain, wind or snow.

I don't recall the exact date as again it would have been when I was a youngster, but a person went missing in the bluffs back then, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot by the name of Christopher Johnson was called on to search, and he did in a Harvard fighter plane, but unfortunately crashed and perished in the lower Cascade Stream, and so the initial tragedy was compounded! He has had a glacier named after him, but this is a sad "2nd best" to a life lost in the prime...

Of course I never knew Christopher, but I was to get to know people who knew and loved him, and I often have reflected how life would have worked out differently for many had he not perished at such a young age. On another level at the time of this tragic event he'd already had quite an influence on the climbing scene of the day in the NZ Alpine Club, where my outdoor skills were nurtured by those who knew him too. We live in a funny world of connectedness!

A sample of the terrain we searched between the Cascade Saddle and the Pylon...


Cascade Stream [which has to be crossed - and shelter is a scant commodity if you cannot] drops maybe 500 meters vertically where it goes out of sight in this photo. A drop so awesome it's totally beyond capture on camera, however there is a taste of it about five photos down...


Plunket Dome, despite the easy accessibility from the Saddle it's not frequented often - maybe it's the cumulative distance...


Upstream view of some of "our task" to poke our noses into: up Cascade Stream - some wild country and big...

The last time I was on a Search and Rescue mission on the Cascade Saddle route back in about the late 1980s, was when we were responding to the fact that early one morning a young student had run down to Aspiring Hut and raised the alarm. His companion had slipped on snow the evening before and slid head-first into some rocks just above bush-line sustaining head injuries. He'd got her [unconscious] onto safe flat ground somehow, then erected their tent, and he'd looked after her all night essentially ensuring a clear airway in a situation where he could not sleep. Our pick-up was far from simple as we had to carry her across the same 30 degree ice/snow she'd slipped on. The Jet Ranger, which at least was "shut-down" on an area the size of it's skids precisely on the very edge of a vertical drop-off into the bluffs, was a welcome sight on our return! I'm glad it was not windy, and it could park up, 'cause it could well have been!

Our helicopter heading into the Dart Glacier to pick up one of our group - we had to wait quite sometime for our pickup and we discussed anything but what we'd have to do if it could not make it back before more cloud drifted in and night became a reality, not just a promise...


The Dart Glacier again - on the right is the drop off for Cascade Stream as mentioned earlier...


Mt Rob Roy, second only in height in the area to Mt Aspiring which is hiding on the left...


Plunket Dome as the sun sets...

I've only touched on three tragedies on this route, but there have been countless others despite education attempts and warnings. In fact at least 3 people, with significant local knowledge advised Irina to not attempt the crossing in heavy rain - especially not alone. Regularly there is a theme of disregard for conditions accompanied by a goal deemed to be pressing! Search and Rescue personal do their best in what are all-to-often "fine" [in every sense of the word] scenarios heightened by short weather windows, for time is of the essence!

Experience and respect for weather and terrain with good team work and decision making is essential and I'm posting this blog to bring these concepts onto the radar of all those who browse the web for information, while planning to enjoy our amazing New Zealand mountains and landscapes!

The comments of Marg, one of my blog readers says it nicely:

"It is a grim reality that no matter how awe inspiring , beautiful and breathtaking the mountains are we would be fools to ever call them friends or expect the elements to deal kindly to us just because we expect it to be so. I am so dreadfully sorry that these beautiful photos are inspired by a search and rescue operation. It makes the sights all the more staggering and also more reverent I suppose if that is the right word."

Some points for people to keep in mind when planning some tramping in New Zealand:

1] The terrain in geological terms and weather is far more dynamic than most realise - even those with experience in other countries fail to grasp this! History repeatedly reinforces this in the minds of us Kiwis dedicated to education and Search and Rescue [as far as I'm concerned the latter is in the "ambulance at the bottom of the cliff" catagory - it's better we're all on the top!]

2] Just because high profile [irresponsible?] travel guides tout gems of trips to promote readership, don't believe what you read. Seek local advice! The Dept of Conservation and New Zealand Mountain Safety Council are great resources.

3] Make sure all experiences a small ones, and thus survivable. The big ones don't enhance learning [maybe in the next life]!

4] All actions, or in-actions in life have consequences. If we're traveling alone in New Zealand mountains expect those consequences to be dramatic if we're not mentally prepared and "trained up".

5] Be very aware of our capabilities, and the potential for good and bad times on New Zealand walks. I've seen too many in our hills with one foot on a banana skin and the other one in the grave! The sad thing to observe is that there is often no self perception of the lack of knowledge and experience.

6] In retrospect many of us have been "saved" by bad weather. By this I mean we have all had ill conceived ideas, but never had the chance to try them because the weather intervened!

7] Leave a record of intentions [I find the written word to be best]. This is called "signing in", so be it with the Dept of Conservation or a friend or whomever, don't forget to sign out! If I'm doing a solo trip I plan it well and make the plan part of the intentions. On the trip I always do my best to stick to this plan [which often will incorporate a backup or retreat option], so that if anything happens I've left the best clues possible behind. I'd also leave messages en-route, and if things were getting tough I'd leave even more e.g. an arrow made of stones or sticks incorporating my name.

Wanaka bound...

This was another memorable mountain day in the New Zealand Southern Alps, but I would have much rather have had a different reason to be in this area once again! A nice quiet trip in light airs and sunshine with my son, with lots of rests, light fluffy clouds and good cheer, with time to indulge in some serious landscape photography would be my pick for a perfect crossing!

Sharks Tooth from the air...

An interesting start to the New Year what with some varied outdoor activities

New Years day started for me watching fireworks down on Lake Wanaka's lake shore at midnight. I've always found Eely Point a good vantage point as it's not over-run by people. Before the day was out though I was deep in the heart of our Southern Alps on a Search and Rescue mission: an Aucklander of Uzbekistan descent was tramping alone from the Aspiring Hut to the Dart Hut over the Cascade Saddle, a tough alpine tramping route near Mount Aspiring, and not turned up at Dart Hut well over the other side.

A few light moments shared in the helicopter over the Matukituki river before arriving at the saddle...


I was far too busy after landing to photograph and admire the amazingly tough environment of Cascade Saddle and Dart Glacier we'd just been transported into as if by magic at over 1700 meters, until waiting to be picked up again in failing visibility with snow flakes. It was good to be "out-of-there" a few minutes later knowing darkness and a "weather bomb" were arriving...

Jan. 2nd as anticipated was a shocker for weather, and so no searching occurred. The next day I'd committed to helping with the half marathon "Souther Muster" being held at the Snow Farm. At 1500m we did get some left-over snowflakes from the big storm, but it was a lovely day, be it cool with the freezing level at about 1600m.

My camper beside Meadow Warming hut where we ran a drink station for the runners and bikers for the morning...




Runners calling in for drinks, bananas or jelly beans...


After the job was over there was time for a 3 hour walk and some serious landscape photography of the typical New Zealand high-country variety...






As of finishing this my weekly dispatch, the weather remains unsuitable for further searching for the tramper. It may be days before an outcome is achieved which will be hard for the search management team and the victim's family members.

PS just as I posted this the ph. rang and I find myself getting ready for another flight to Cascade Saddle [perhaps!]. Watch this space.

A thought provoking week of bird survey work and another mountain accident

After waiting for good settled weather for almost a month, finally mid last week I was off on a two day braided riverbed bird survey as a volunteer for DOC. This is an annual event I really look forward too and this year the river was the Matukituki that drains all the eastern slopes of Mt Aspiring.

A handful of us spread out across the braids and then walked downstream for about 30 Kms recording every bird we saw ahead of us. It's a physically demanding job, peppered with the need to cross and re-cross many of the branches and sometimes even the main flow, deal with the relentless reflected heat from the riverbed, very nasty quicksand [actually gravel over glacial silt], and any wind that is about.

Because we were a month late our survey coincided more with the juvenile stage of the large and prolific [Southern Hemisphere] Black Back Gull. This species seems to be on the increase and this is probably to the detriment of the increasingly rare Black Fronted Tern. Our course took us through several of the gull colonies and so we saw some chics...


These riverbeds are very raw, but they also have amazing landscape perspectives - we had this view of Mt Avalanche [centre] and Mt Aspiring [behind on the right] over our shoulders for two days. Little did I realise though, as I gazed often indulging my passion for panorama landscape photography, that a tragedy was unfolding: two of my client friends were on the classic South West Ridge, and one of them fell to his death on Thurs. The top of the ridge can be seen here in profile just to the left of Aspiring's summit...


The NZ Herald has the nicest article honouring John - one of the best "top drawer" people I've ever met. My sympathies go out to Meg and his family.

This is myself in full kit on the right complete with sun hat, binos, clipboard and a ski pole [to help with river crossings]. We also carry radios so we can check any duplication of sightings as we travel...


Black Back Gull chics in conference with attendant parents overhead [not seen here] making quite a racket [it's best to not look up!]...


On this survey we noted quite a delightful increase in Banded Dotterels. Although nesting was over for this spring, I took this photo of a protective parent last year...


Also early last week, before the survey, there was lots of bad weather with accompanying high rainfall which filled Lake Wanaka to the brim, and also made our survey river crossings much more difficult. It would also have swept away many chics and nests, and this has given me much to think about re. the dynamic nature of survival! However we noted decreases and increases, another of the latter being the ethereal and beautiful Pied Stilt [I've yet to capture on the camera]

Photography for a Wanaka art gallery and Search and Rescue training.

I've was busy last week doing web sites and one required a few fine art shots downtown in Wanaka for Art Upstairs, and following last week's theme I had some more Wanaka Search and Rescue training one evening.

At the gallery it got a bit boring just shooting pictures on walls, so I captured a desired look and feel by examining what was there that could be utilised to good effect in the foreground...


As most Wanaka Search and Rescue operations use helicopters and the nature of the New Zealand terrain is mountainous, our training one evening last week was all about getting people and baggage in and out of helicopters on sloping terrain. Smoothness is required when getting in and out so as to not unbalance the machine abruptly, knowing how the door and luggage pod latches work, and obviously walking away uphill is not good for the head! These may seem simple things to master, but not when you're surrounded by so much on-going noise - all accompanied by significant air blasting as the machine arrives and departs.

Although the front of the skids are on the ground, this machine on the lower slopes of Treble Cone, is still flying in this photo. What pilots like to see in this situation, is no one rushing about as they embark and alight, but moving quietly within the pilot's field of vison...


I had planned on some tramping and fulfilling a self imposed landscape photography assignment this weekend, but the weather has not cooperated.

Wanaka Search and Rescue exercise on river safety

Yesterday having crossed the mighty Makarora river by 4wd, we went up the Wilken valley to escape the wind and sand storms to carry out the following Wanaka Search and Rescue exercises:

River crossing in a group on foot and how to retreat, doing it solo, self rescue techniques, on foot with a patient in a stretcher, and 4 wheel drive strategies and safety in rivers.

Crossing the ever changing Makarora to the remote MtAlbert high country run - that's not a boat in the middle distance and the sandstorms can quickly strip the paint off of any sharp edges on car body work, should they be left parked in these exposed and silt laden braided river beds that are so unique to New Zealand...


My friends using a mutual support technique in the Wilken...


Self rescue practice using the "ferry gliding" technique, with the beautiful Wilken peaks in the background...


We had it all wrapped by 2.30 and we headed back to the farm house, which is over the river from Makarora village, for a barbi of venison and organic sausages. One of my friends Mike is the manager of the farm and he taught the 4wd stuff. Since he's had eight years of crossing this river more than twice daily I learnt an awful lot about vehicle techniques - especially as pertaining to modern diesel trucks [he demonstrated with water over the head lights at one point, rather freaking out his passengers who suddenly found themselves getting their lower trousers wet - there are no floor mats and the thus exposed holes in the floor mean the truck fills up quickly so it won't float!]. There were a lot of my other old friends present on the day too, so we had a lot of fun in the sun, and managed to keep out of the raging nor west winds that prevailed preceding today's bad weather!

Bun in hand Mike describes some aspect of the day's exercises to Colin...


This week coming up, weather permitting, we'll have an evening on helicopter safety.