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Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

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accident on Mt Aspiring

southcol
16-Dec-2010
10:34:43 PM
I could not see this already in the forums. Apologies if already discussed.

Young climber took a fatal fall on Mt Aspiring SW ridge. Very sad.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10694652

skink
17-Dec-2010
9:01:42 AM
On 17/12/2010 citationx wrote:
>"Mr Dickson said the other man managed to make it to the summit for help
>and "by luck" met some other guided parties."
>Hmmm.

Why the 'hmmm'?
patto
17-Dec-2010
9:43:45 AM
I know both climbers involved. This accident shocked and saddened me. Though my only knowledge of the accident details is through the media....

I too am puzzled by the second post..

vwills
17-Dec-2010
10:44:49 AM
If a partner fell while you were close to the summit the obvious way off is to go up and then get onto the NW ridge where it is highly likely there will be other climbers, and it is the usual descent route, being easier.
Awful news.

nmonteith
17-Dec-2010
10:59:48 AM
Agree with Vanessa. The thought of having to reverse all that front pointing down the SW Ridge (where you mate has just fallen) sounds frightening. If he was indeed only 200m from the summit then it makes a LOT more sense to top out and descend back down the much safer NW ridge or ramp which would deposit you right at the hut and mountain radio. On a mtn like Aspiring there is a really good chance you will be sharing the summit or NW ridge with other parties.

shiltz
17-Dec-2010
11:03:38 AM
My thoughts go out to all those involved, their families and their friends.
patto
17-Dec-2010
11:25:41 AM
I thank the rest of you for your sympathies and for treating such misguided question of motives with the disdain it deserves.

As most climbers should be aware going up is often alot safer than going down. Given the partner's choice it seemed obvious to me that he chose to go up because he was aware of an safer way down once reaching the summit.

The partner was a good friend of the man who died. It would have been very hard for him. This isn't everest, it isn't summit fever. This is two climbers who went mountaineering in New Zealand.

This event has shocked and saddened many.

Dikko
4-Jan-2011
11:31:51 AM
The following was posted on AussieMountaineers. The source was not stated:

A young Australian climber fell about 800 metres to his death on an expedition to Mt Aspiring near Wanaka today.

The party of two men, in their early 20s, were climbing the southwest ridge of Mt Aspiring this morning when one of the men fell and slid down the west face into a crevasse.

Members of the Wanaka Search and Rescue Alpine Cliff Rescue team have recovered the body of Eng Wu Ong, 21, of Melbourne.

Land SAR alpine cliff rescue team leader Gary Dickson, who helped run the nine-hour operation, said the Department of Conservation received an emergency call.

Wanaka police launched a search and rescue operation, including a 10-strong alpine rescue team.

Dickson said the SAR team flew by helicopter to a staging post before a fly-by reconnaissance of the southwest ridge.

The climber was found in a four-metre deep crevasse at the base, he said.

SAR volunteers used a long-line swung from the helicopter to retrieve the climber's body in a flexible stretcher before flying back to a staging post at Bevan Col.

The man's climbing partner met another expedition and joined the group before the SAR team met them at Colin Todd hut.

Dickson said the pair were climbing un-roped, which was not unusual, but it accentuated the risk.

It was possible the man fell from the "top gully'', a two-metre wide ice pass, he said.

"There are some bits of fragile ice, his tools might have popped out.

"We don't really know what happened.''

He said the pair were doing well to climb so high by early morning and the weather was perfect.

"There's nothing in my mind they did wrong ... that's just one of the sad parts of life, there's some risk when it's an adventure,'' he said.

It would be a difficult Christmas for the young man who lost his climbing partner, he said.

The rescue operation started about 9am and continued to about 4pm.

The 3,033 metre peak (9928ft) is a popular mountaineering spot and the only New Zealand peak over 3,000m outside Mount Cook National Park.

The MetService forecast for Mt Aspiring was light northeast winds, southwest 20kmh winds at 2000 metres dying out in the afternoon, followed by northerly 20kmh winds in the evening.

Andrew_M
4-Jan-2011
12:35:09 PM
We got to know Egg and his climbing partner Richard in the week before the accident - having met randomly in the mountains and then cragged together in Cook Village / Wanaka. Egg seemed like a hell of a nice guy who was full of energy and incredibly motivated to climb. Deep condolences to Eng Wu's family.

Please be careful in the mountains people.
Will_P
21-Aug-2013
3:39:40 PM
Apologies to any friends or family further saddened by reviving this topic, but returning from a climbing trip to NZ a couple of weeks ago, I watched on the flight home episode 1 of a NZ series, 'High Country Rescue'.

This episode followed the SAR notification of Egg's accident, the preparation, the search and location, and the body recovery. The first SAR guy on the actual scene was wearing a helmet cam, and the footage is harrowing. Despite what these shows are generally like, this one treated the accident as one of those things that happen, even to well-prepared people who know what they are doing. The respect and caring towards Egg displayed by the SAR members was truly moving.

I tried to find a link to this episode online, but it's a few years old, so I think it's been removed. But if you're flying Air New Zealand in the near future, check it out. A sobering reminder of the possible consequences.
rustyb
15-Oct-2013
8:13:37 PM
looks like you can purchase the dvd based on searching for it on the web

I am only assuming this is the same episode however. Its 3 hours worth so its probably a few episodes combined.

http://shop.tvnz.co.nz/high-country-rescue/

There are 11 messages in this topic.

 

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