KEY POINTS:
Three stranded trampers offered to pay for their own rescue but were blocked by the Department of Conservation and told they would have to make their own way out.
The trio managed to walk out of the Arthurs Pass National Park yesterday, after being trapped for three days by a swollen river, but were left feeling "quite frustrated and angry" at DoC, which is sticking to its guns.
Hamilton man Kerry Suter, his brother Nick visiting from the United States, and their friend, Auckland cameraman Dana Hemmingway, offered by radio to pay $1300 for a helicopter to pick them up as their food supplies dwindled and the nearby White River kept rising.
But DoC's policy means the only flights allowed into the park are for emergencies, and neither DoC nor police deemed the trio's situation an emergency.
Kerry Suter's wife Megan said the trio were growing concerned about their plight and were prepared to pay their own way.
"It's not like they are using taxpayers' money or search and rescue personnel.
"They were wanting to pay for someone to get them out of there because it could be a pretty dangerous situation."
DoC area manager Kingsley Timpson said it had been the policy for the past 20 years that aircraft could not access the national park to transport people for anything other than an emergency or park management.
Users of the park had communicated their desire for the policy "loud and clear".
The trampers' situation was not deemed serious enough and "we don't compromise park policies if people get hungry in the park".
"If the situation had deteriorated, we would have reviewed it.
"But they were quite safe where they were and we expected they would be able to walk out."
Paul White, of the Canterbury Mountain Radio Service, assisted the trampers' effort to get a helicopter and questioned what could have happened if the river levels had not receded.
"It's really just a DoC paper war, and it gets right up our noses."
The Mountain Safety Council urged all trampers heading into the outdoors to be prepared for an extended stay by taking extra food, communications and equipment.
"Rivers are a hazard in the outdoors and swollen and fast-flowing rivers are not safe to cross at any time," a spokesman said.
"The Mountain Safety Council encourages people to be prepared to sit it out, camp an extra night or two and wait until the river goes down."
