Tramper leaves locator beacon at home - then needs to be rescued in Fiordland

A tramper needed to be rescued after she got lost as cloud descended around her high on a mountain range in Fiordland – and she had left her personal locator beacon at home.

About 7pm last Saturday, police received a mobile phone call from a tramper saying she was lost in low cloud in the Borland Saddle area, about a 60km drive from Manapouri, Southland.

The woman, who was a tourist, did have experience of the area but was disoriented after cloud descended around her, sergeant Dougall Henderson, of Invercargill police Search and Rescue, said.

“Although she was well-prepared for a day tramp and was quite experienced, she only had her mobile phone.

“She had been walking around for several hours before raising the alarm,” he said.

“The irony is, she owns a distress beacon (Personal Locator Beacon) and didn’t think she would need it because she knew the area, but as it turns out - she did need it.”

The woman knows she should have taken a GPS also, as she wasn’t far from where she thought she was, Henderson said.

Southern Lakes Helicopters crewperson Richie Hunter said weather conditions during the rescue were marginal.

“Police had SAR volunteers onboard for a foot approach if needed. The helicopter got to within 500 metres of the tramper but couldn’t climb any higher due to poor visibility, as she was 1440 metres up the saddle.

“Based on local knowledge, police knew there was a high drop-off, and she could have fallen. We told her not to descend to the chopper and we did attempt to get her with the chopper from multiple directions, but it was too cloudy and wasn’t safe.”

“We dropped the SAR team on the ground at the Borland Saddle and they walked two hours in to find her at 11.30pm, so she was lucky,” he said.

Experienced LandSAR volunteer Mark Sweeney said the woman was fine, in good spirits and not injured.

“We were able to plot her exact location, so she was told to stay put due to being several kilometres from nearest track,’’ he said.

She had the right clothes and food and was well-equipped for a day tramp, but not prepared for sleeping out overnight.

“She was annoyed she had forgotten her distress beacon and did not take a GPS, although you can’t just reply on GPS either – these can fail due to software problems, low batteries or even wet weather,” he said.

“The PLBs are more powerful, accurate and provide a rapid response by emergency services.’’

They are better than the alternative satellite text message devices or SEND (Satellite Emergency Notification Device), he said.

“The PLB’s also have an important homing function for rescue aircraft to locate and pinpoint the position once the aircraft is on scene, even if the party are under a tree canopy.

“We have found, with other devices, the information is delayed and often difficult to locate them without the homing function in rugged country,” he said.