Man 'swims' 300m out of avalanche

A Christchurch man thought he was going to die as he "swam" 300m through an avalanche of snow and debris.

The 40-year-old tramper was among a party of four experienced mountaineers hit by the wall of snow high on the slopes of the Arrowsmith Range in mid-Canterbury on Friday.

Yesterday, his rescuers said he had a lucky escape after a successful rescue was sparked by the party's emergency locator beacon.

The party was tramping near Jagged Stream in the Arrowsmith Range, north-west of Methven, when the avalanche hit.

New Zealand Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman Steve Corbett said two members of the party were hit by a "reasonably sized" avalanche.

One was caught on the fringe and managed to pop out quickly, but the other was swept downhill for about 300m.

"He swam with it and managed to pop out in the end. He did not expect to get out of it," Mr Corbett said. "He said it was very white, very noisy and pretty scary."
The man, from Cashmere in Christchurch, described the sensation as like being caught in fierce whitewater rapids.

He suffered leg injuries and was unable to walk to safety. A member of the party stayed with him, while the other two walked to nearby Cameron Hut to raise the alarm with an emergency locator beacon, Mr Corbett said.

The beacon signal was soon picked up and a Garden City Helicopter was sent from Christchurch.

Pilot Chris Wilding said the party was in mountainous, snow-covered terrain, inaccessible other than by helicopter. The party was ferried to safety by early evening.

Avalanches in the area were common at this time of year as snow started to soften and melt, he said.

Methven police constable Don Eggleston said the success of the rescue showed the value of the emergency beacons.

Without a beacon, the alarm was often not raised until a party was overdue, and it could then take a long time to narrow down likely locations.

"Our local search and rescue were getting mobilised, but it would have taken quite a while to get there and find them," Mr Eggleston said.

The avalanche survivor, who was recovering at home today, declined to be interviewed.

- NZPA