British tramper Stephanie Simpson, who died in Mt Aspiring National Park in 2020. A coroner has found she drowned in a creek, most likely after tripping and falling in. Photo / Supplied
British tramper Stephanie Simpson, who died in Mt Aspiring National Park in 2020. A coroner has found she drowned in a creek, most likely after tripping and falling in. Photo / Supplied
Stephanie Simpson was on a lone hike on a weekend in February 2020 when she took off her hiking boots near an alpine creek in Mt Aspiring National Park.
The body of the 32-year-old British woman, who had been on a working holiday in New Zealand was found days later, several hundred metres downstream from where her boots still sat on the bank.
A coroner has now found that Simpson likely fell as she approached the creek and subsequently drowned while tramping alone in February 2020.
Stephanie Simpson went missing in February 2020 when she planned to walk the Brewster track in Mt Aspiring National Park. Her body was found in a creek several days after she was reported missing. Photo / Supplied
The report into the death of the fit, experienced tramper who loved New Zealand’s mountains and wilderness has provided important safety lessons for those tramping solo, the country’s outdoor safety promoter says.
The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council said Simpson was one of 40 people to have died while tramping solo in the past 15 years, 16 of whom were on a day walk.
The most recent was Petr Cech, who was solo hiking a section of Te Araroa trail in the Richmond Ranges between Nelson and Marlborough.
Simpson, a 32-year-old interior architect from Essex who was living in Wānaka at the time, was described as being extremely fit and capable in the outdoors, and had hiked for many years in the UK, Australia and then New Zealand.
RNZ reported in February 2020 that Simpson was at the time working for a Wānaka landscape firm. She was described by close friend and co-worker Rebekah Hanson as courageous, strong, hardworking and adventurous.
“The mountains are where she filled up and it fed her spirit, so I really believe just being out here for the last few months, being in Wānaka and having the mountains surrounding you, has lifted her up in so many ways,” Hanson said at the time.
On February 8, 2020, Simpson set off from Fantail Falls Carpark to Brewster Hut in Mt Aspiring National Park.
Petr Cech was solo hiking a section of Te Araroa trail in the Richmond Ranges between Nelson and Marlborough. Photo / Supplied
The Brewster Track is classified as an advanced tramping track which crosses the Haast River and climbs steeply into alpine terrain before reaching Brewster Hut at 1140 metres.
Simpson had told friends she planned to hike to Brewster Hut and then move on to Blue Pools.
She was believed to have headed out to Mt Aspiring National Park after work on Friday and was expected to return on Sunday.
She was carrying a day pack but did not take a search and rescue beacon with her.
According to the data recovered from Simpson’s Garmin watch, after she reached Brewster Hut and had a break she left the track and headed towards Brewster Glacier.
She then turned around and returned a different way, initially back towards the hut, but for unknown reasons she descended into a steep valley.
Police were contacted on February 9 by a pair of trampers she met on the track who noticed her car was still parked at Fantail Falls Carpark.
The following day her employer contacted police when she did not turn up to work, and a search and rescue operation began the day after.
On February 14, her pack was found by a helicopter crew. Her body was found in a canyon at the bottom of Pyke Creek, near where a search and rescue crew had found her boots on the river’s edge.
Media reported at the time she had removed her boots and made it into the Pyke Creek water, where she was washed several hundred metres downstream.
Creeks in the area usually rose in the afternoons as the glaciers melted from the sun, creating a stronger current, police told media at the time.
Simpson’s family arrived at the search area at the same time her body was found.
The last her family heard from her was the week before when she messaged to say she was going tramping for the weekend.
The Mountain Safety Council supported the coronial investigation with a report which included factors which may have contributed to Simpson’s death and provided recommendations to prevent future similar tragedies.
Although the reasons for Stephanie’s deviation from her return route back to Brewster Hut were unclear, the safety council’s report noted possible reasons and challenges she may have faced during the day, including navigational errors and environmental challenges, and a potential slip or fall.
Coroner Alexander Ho, who endorsed the council’s recommendations, said Simpson likely tripped or fell as she approached the creek and subsequently drowned.
In addition to a list of standard safety recommendations, the safety council highlighted the risks associated with tramping alone, including how it might impact someone’s ability to self-monitor and make life-saving decisions.
The safety council further recommended that people heading into terrain such as that around Brewster Hut and Mt Armstrong should not travel alone.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
