Disoriented tramper sparks search

A 55-year-old Wellington tramper who got disorientated by fog in the Tararuas sparked a two-day search and rescue effort on Sunday.
Masterton police Search and Rescue co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Murray Johnston said the man called police from his cellphone around 5.30pm complaining of a knee injury mistakenly thinking he was at Cone Saddle probably because he had taken a wrong turn in the heavy cloud.
A search party was immediately dispatched and arrived at Cone Saddle around 10.30pm, however, the man was actually at Neil Winchcombe Ridge.
"He should have been going to Cone Hut but instead of that he turned right at the top of Mt Cone instead of going straight," Mr Johnston said.
The man was not the only one to make the mistake, later in the day a party of three did the same thing, "but they realised what they'd done and made their way back to Cone Hut", Mr Johnston said.
He said high winds had prevented a helicopter from joining the search and on Monday a further four search parties were sent out a total of 18 people.
"This would have been a very straight-forward operation if we'd been able to fly the Neill Winchcombe Ridge.
"On the ground the weather dictates a lot of what we do so we committed a few troops to solve the problem," Mr Johnston said.
The man was walked out on Monday around lunchtime after being located at the ridge saddle.
Meanwhile, on Saturday police also rescued a 44-year-old man from Upper Hutt who got lost after being separated from his tramping companions on the descent from Mt Holdsworth to Totara Creek.
Mr Johnston said the most likely scenario was that the man had tried to walk in the trees to avoid the uneven, rocky track and had walked too far and become lost in bush.
Mr Johnston said the man's friends looked for him for about two hours, whistling and shouting his name.
He said they then returned to the track and told a passing tramper who relayed the information on to police.
Mr Johnston said a four-person squad was then sent out and located the man at Totara Flats Hut, where they spent the night before walking him out on Sunday morning.