New Zealand’s only fulltime alpine rescue team operates in some of the highest and most challenge environments possible. Video / George Heard
New Zealand’s only full-time alpine rescue team operates in some of the highest and most challenging environments possible. Herald visual journalist George Heard joined the highly-trained crack group on a hair-raising training mission on Aoraki/Mt Cook.
The euphoria of summiting New Zealand’s highest peak had worn off when the pair of climbers finally called for help. It was pitch black and they were exhausted after more than 30 hours of climbing over steep terrain covered in bullet-proof ice.
Stranded and fatigued, they also knew a storm was fast closing in. The pair were left with no choice but to activate their personal locator beacon.
It was 2.05am when the Aoraki/Mt Cook Department of Conservation Search and Rescue duty phone rang in the village base.
Aoraki/Mt Cook Department of Conservation Search and Rescue search supervisor George Loomes on a long-line training exercise. Photo / George Heard
After a briefing, three rescuers from the highly-trained SAR team joined the Otago rescue helicopter and identified a forward staging site.
At an altitude of 3500m – just 200m short of Aoraki/Mt Cook’s ragged summit – the rescue came with some serious challenges. The downwash from the helicopter and the resultant spin of the rescuer being winched down by rope meant they had to land below the climbers and scramble their way up to reach them.
The September 2022 rescue on the Sheila face of Aoraki/Mt Cook was one of the most challenging that the team has ever done. Photo / Supplied
Two separate extractions were made using a tricky “hot-seat” procedure, at an altitude rarely seen, if ever, in New Zealand.
But both climbers were whipped off the giant mountain before the storm reached them, uninjured other than suffering “cold injuries”, mainly to their feet.
The September 11, 2022 rescue stands out as a prime example of what the Aoraki/Mt Cook Department of Conservation Search and Rescue team can achieve for search supervisor George Loomes.
New Zealand’s only full-time alpine rescue team provides rescue capability for the high terrain between Arthur’s Pass and Haast Pass, a vast and varied geographical area.
The team operates in one of the most challenging of terrains. Photo / George Heard
Although NZ Police and the NZSAR Council contribute funding for the capability, supported by the Ministry of Transport, the bulk comes from the Department of Conservation (DoC). It provides for four full-time staff, supplemented by three fixed-term staff over the October to February peak visitor season.
In recent years, the team has averaged 40 to 50 operations a year, peaking around the optimum mountaineering season in November. Around a quarter of those callouts are “high alpine”, above 2000m.
“And then a smaller percentage again will be really hair-raising stuff, on steep, steep country,” says Loomes, who has been in the job for five years.
The crew rely on helicopters to get to many of their remote rescues. Photo / George Heard
And it’s the ever-changeable weather that is probably the team’s biggest challenge, closely followed by the terrain. They do river rescues and respond to avalanches and reports of falls down seemingly-bottomless crevasses.
“The harder rescues that I’ve done have been in marginal weather conditions, with particularly ill patients where you’re both trying to save a life and mitigate what is quite a high-risk, and changeable situation. And also jobs that at nighttime are always quite difficult,” says Loomes.
“And then it’s really about creating systems that mitigate the risk in the best possible way. So doing things in a standardised manner, but also being adaptable and flexible for changing situations and dynamic environments.”
Photo / George Heard
They rely on The Helicopter Line company for much of their transport, operating Squirrel choppers and long lines, as well as GCH Aviation and Helicopters Otago, who operate the larger BK-117 / EC145 machines with night-vision goggles and a rescue hoist.
New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook is the scene for many of the team's rescue missions. Photo / George Heard
Their base is chock-full of technical mountaineering and rescue gear: ropes, carabiners, ice axes, crampons, ice anchors, avalanche probes and receivers, and satellite communication devices.
Outside of operations, the team has a busy schedule. Technical training includes rope rescue, helicopter deployment and medical skills.
Photo / George Heard
Members are generally New Zealand Mountain Guides Association-qualified guides and maintain currency through regular climbing and skiing training in the local region.
The Herald joined the team for a training day last week.
Three search and rescue volunteers from other parts of the country joined the Aoraki/Mt Cook crew to practise long-line rescues in the national park.
Photo / George Heard
During a break in the notoriously fickle weather, the members were helicoptered to a remote spot to work on cliff-face rescues.
Most of the SAR team are already fully-trained alpine guides as well as being keen climbers and skiers.
Loomes says they are currently looking to hire a supervisor and ranger in what he describes as one of the best jobs in the country.
“If you’ve got a high level of mountaineering and skiing experience and you’re passionate about helping others, then this can be a really good step towards a career in guiding, or it can be a really good step towards other opportunities in the rescue sector in New Zealand.”
