Poor preparation blamed for elderly tramper's death

Rescuers with Dennis McDougall (centre, in the blue jacket) after a harrowing night which claimed his partner.

American tourist Dennis McDougall did not expect to see the sun rise as he huddled in freezing conditions near the highest point of the Tongariro Crossing yesterday morning.

It was 2am, and the retired US attorney had endured a harrowing night that eight hours earlier had claimed the life of his partner Raydene Shepard, 70.

An expected eight-hour hike across the Tongariro Crossing turned into an overnight nightmare that ended only with his cries for help to a search party dispatched four hours earlier to find the pair.

Detective Constable Kevan Verry, of Taupo police, said the 64-year-old man "was in a pretty bad way" when searchers reached him near the Red Crater, close to the highest point on the track. "He was found in the nick of time. He was extremely surprised to see searchers at 2am. He believed no one would come till the morning. The man himself thought things were not looking good and that he might not see the morning."

Mr McDougall had advanced hypothermia, which had earlier claimed the life of his partner.

"He was in an advanced stage of hypothermia, his body closed down when the rescuers arrived. They had to manhandle him in to a tent and get him into a sleeping bag."

Mr Verry blamed inexperience and poor preparation for the tragedy.

"The clothing they had just wasn't adequate. They didn't have maps, had not checked the weather. It rained yesterday. They got wet, then the temperature dropped. The wind this morning when I jumped out of the chopper cut through me like a knife, and I had my protective gear."

The pair began the tramp at around 8am Wednesday morning dressed in trousers, checkered shirts and wind breakers.

They had been in New Zealand since April 7, and planned to stay for four weeks before continuing on a Pacific holiday.

Mr Verry said the pair reached the half-way point walk, which takes between six and eight hours from Mangatepopo hut to Ketetahi.

"They came to the top of a summit ... they thought, 'That can't possibly be the track, it's too steep'. They looked for another track and became disoriented."

Drained by the rain and low cloud, the pair searched for cover at 3.30pm, finding an outcrop of rocks.

"If they carried on down the track and gone down it they would have still been moving and got to an area where they may have been seen by other people."

Within 2 hours the Californian woman was dead. Her descent into the stages of hypothermia happened quickly.

"She got delusional, believed she was hot, then basically just shut down and passed away. He is pretty upset, it is a tragedy."

Mr Verry doubted Ms Shepard's age was a contributing factor to her sudden decline.

The Taupo-based Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter ferried the group off the mountain at 7am yesterday morning.

Pilot Dan Harcourt said conditions overnight made a helicopter search for the pair impossible.

"They were pretty much right near the summit, almost 6000 ft camped on a very exposed southwest knob on the top there. It was pretty rough."

The death has prompted calls for greater care from people planning to walk New Zealand tracks.

Ruapehu area manager Nicola Patrick said it was the second death on the Tongariro Crossing this season.

"Some visitors to New Zealand don't appear to appreciate how changeable our weather conditions are, especially in the mountains. One minute it can be warm and sunny, the next it can be raining with extremely strong wind."

She called for the use of appropriate clothing when entering the bush.

"That means carrying warm layers of wool or thermal clothing, a woollen hat and gloves and a quality jacket and overtrou. The biggest mistake people can make is to wear jeans - they are hopeless if they get wet."