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Treacherous ice on Mt Cook |
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31-Dec-2003 1:25:26 PM
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Good to see your post John! Take care.../Anthony
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31-Dec-2003 3:09:59 PM
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anyone know who died?
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1-Jan-2004 11:25:09 AM
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The dead were guides Paul Scaife, Dave Hiddleston and Dave Gardner of Aspiring Guides. One client died (Andrew Platt) of Perth. 2 other clients are in hospital and a pair of Swiss climbers were swept into a crevasse but were apparently uninjured.What a tragedy.
See this link (sorry if it doesn't work)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3541807&thesection=news&thesubsection=general
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2-Jan-2004 3:55:26 PM
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Saw in the paper today they are quoting some climbing expert that said the climbers caused the avalanche. Kinda like saying if a tree falls in the forest and no one around ...blah blah blah. Papers love a good tregedy and someone to blame.
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2-Jan-2004 11:49:36 PM
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Journalists print any crap they are given. One of the two surviviing members of the party says that a crack appeared in the slope above them before the avalanche.
I won't hazard a guess as to whether it was windslab (the top of Syme Ridge is notorious for this) or fresh snow over ice.
Three guides died and any one of them knew vastly more about snow conditions than I do.
I didn't know any of the victims but I know Mike Roberts who had to cope with it. Mike was a guide climbing the same route and had to cope with the outcome of the avalanche
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4-Jan-2004 3:22:27 PM
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Still coming to terms with what has happened.
Firstly, my heartfelt sympathy to all those who lost loved ones in this latest accident.
We only found out about the tragic avalanche on Mt Tasman today when we made our way back to Fox village this morning.
Our party of three (1 guide and two clients) were probably some of the last people to see these guys alive. We were all down at the NZAC hut at Fox Village on the night of the 29th Dec - waiting for the weather to clear for the choppers to be able to fly in. We got first cab off the rank at 7:30Am on the 30th and they wouldn't have been far behind en route to Pioneer Hut and Mt Tasman.
Although we only spent a few hours with these guys and a lot of other people obviously know them a lot better than I do, I'd just like to say that they all seemed like really top people - sharing climbing stories, and a laugh.
My condolences to all at Mt Aspiring Guides.
The most accurate report is probably here: http://www.aspiringguides.com/newsletter.php
Ben Fenselau
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