Czech couple's decision-making on deadly Great Walk (Routeburn) tramp criticised

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

On July 25, 2016, the couple parked their campervan at the Routeburn Rd car park and stayed overnight.

They had arrived in the country in February, working in Motueka picking apples before continuing to explore the South Island. They then went to Queenstown to find work for the winter. Petr was a qualified snowboard instructor and Pizova planned to work in hospitality.

Not having much luck finding jobs, they decided to go tramping in the Queenstown area before figuring out their next move. They completed a couple of walks to get a better idea of the alpine conditions before attempting to walk the Routeburn – a 32-kilometre journey with a highest peak at 1300 metres.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) describes it as the "ultimate alpine adventure", taking trampers through ice-carved valleys and below the majestic peaks of the Southern Alps.

Before setting out the couple visited the DOC centre in Queenstown, where they were advised not to do the walk because of the conditions. They decided they would go anyway as no new snow had fallen recently.

Their plan was to go on the Routeburn, then take the Caples Valley track to Glenorchy.

In what Pizova would later say was "one of the big mistakes", they decided not to notify anyone as they wanted to avoid paying for the use of huts on the track.

Pizova later told authorities she and Petr had not done any particular mountain trips in snow, above the bush line, or in an alpine area. They thought they could walk the track with no crampons or ice axe, and would have taken the gear if they had known.

Petr was good with maps and had a good sense of their location, she said.

SETTING OFF

On July 26, the couple headed off, travelling light for the snowy conditions. Crampons, snow shoes, ice axes, a rope or helmets were missing from their gear, as was a tent. It would cost them dearly.

The first night of their tramp was spent alone at the Falls Hut, a four-hour walk from the beginning of the track.

About 10am the following morning, they set off for either the Routeburn or Harris Saddle. Although the weather forecast and track conditions seemed OK, the usual one-hour walk to the Harris Saddle emergency shelter took five hours because of thick snow.

The couple were now more aware of their difficult predicament, but thought it would be more dangerous to return than to carry on.

A sign at the Harris Saddle indicated a three-hour walk to Mackenzie Hut. Thinking the most difficult part of the track was behind them, they decided to continue with hopes of reaching the hut by dusk.

By 5pm it was dark. The weather had suddenly deteriorated, with fog and high winds. The couple were walking with headlamps, but could no longer see more than a metre ahead – making it impossible to see track markers from a distance. Soon they were lost and "going in circles".

Exhausted, with no visibility and no idea where to go, they decided to stay put for the night. As they did not have a tent, they had to settle for a vertical rock as shelter. Their sleeping bags and a flap could not keep out the harsh cold. Pizova did not sleep all night for fear of being buried by snow as they slept.

Pavlina Pizova spent nearly a month in a warden's hut near Lake MacKenzie.
IAIN MCGREGOR / FAIRFAX NZ

Petr was now shivering and showing signs of hypothermia. They turned "completely blue", Pizova said.

BAD TURNS TO WORSE

Despite the rough night, the couple were heartened by clear weather the next morning. They could see the hut was "very close" and decided to head there immediately. They would have a celebratory breakfast when they arrived.

The marked track that zig-zagged down to Lake MacKenzie was steep and thick with snow, so the couple decided to take a shortcut.

Confused by the terrain, they went up the valley rather than down, ending up on the spur. The weather worsened.

"We'll give it a go another time"," Petr said. They headed down only to find their previous footprints.

Petr took off his trousers as he felt they were a nuisance.

Pizova was spent and struggling with hypothermia. In the dark they struggled along, trying to encourage each other.

Eventually, they rested by an overhanging rock. Pizova went ahead to look for the track as Petr, who said he was fine, stayed behind.

He was in a worse state than Pizova as he had been carrying the soaked backpack and sleeping bags. The gear was so heavy Pizova had been unable to lift it off the ground. She returned to find her partner had removed his down jacket and was yelling, "it's all buggered".

Aware that feeling warm was a sign of hypothermia, Pizova quizzed him, but he said he was fine and had taken off his jacket off because it was too heavy.

They carried on, still confident they could reach the hut. Pizova could see the top of the ridge. She went ahead with Petr following, but then realised he had stopped moving.

Petr was "quite heavily hypothermic", Pizova said. His voice sounded different and he was "talking weird stuff" and biting wood.

Suddenly the snow gave way and they slid down in the dark. Pizova, who had lost her headlamp and one of her gloves, scrambled down to Petr. He was conscious but stuck between branches and rocks with his backpack still on his back. He responded but his voice was strange and he sounded "bizarre", she said.

In her exhausted state, she couldn't move him. He struggled but got more tightly wedged. Under the pressure of his backpack and the branches, he started to suffocate. His gasping was audible.

Pizova was at a loss. She did not want to push him through the branches in case a gorge or a cave was underneath. Eventually she could no longer hear Petr breathing. After finding a headlamp in his backpack, Pizova checked his pulse. He had gone.

She spent the rest of the night with him.

 THE WAIT BEGINS

In the morning Pizova, after something to eat and drink, carried on through bush and rock avalanche debris but started to lose visibility due to the fog. She lost her gloves and spent the night under an overhanging rock while heavy snow fell.

Pizova finally saw the hut in the valley the next day and by early afternoon she reached it, traversing large boulders around the edge of Lake MacKenzie and at one stage falling into the freezing water.

After breaking into the warden's hut, she had access to food, blankets and a radio, which she was unable to operate.

In the coming days the grieving Pizova nursed her injuries and the frostbite to her hands and feet. The hut would be her home for the next 24 days.

She heard several aircraft fly over the hut during her stay and waved clothing to attract attention. After hearing helicopters, she used ashes from the fire to make the letter "H" for help outside in a clearing.

Over the days, Pizova tried to make crampons and other gear with the plan of walking out of the track to The Divide, near Te Anau. She lost all confidence when the gear fell to pieces on a test walk.

A search team try to locate the body of Ondrej Petr after he died on the Routeburn Track.
POLICE / The-Press

During her wait, Pizova wrote several notes about her partner.

On August 23, the day before she was found, she wrote about him being "a natural rescuer". Every time they passed someone in need on the side of the road, he would stop and help. Petr suffered from bipolar disorder and she wished he had allowed her to know more about his condition so could have helped more.

THE RESCUE

A day later, Vladka Kennett, the consul for the Czech Republic, who lives in Glenorchy, near Queenstown, noticed "a random Facebook post" from concerned relatives in Europe. She passed Pizova and Petr's details to the Department of Conservation and the couple were reported missing to police.

Police found the couple's van at the Routeburn car park. A helicopter with searchers on board flew over the track. As it neared Lake MacKenzie, they saw Pizova jumping up and down in a fluorescent vest in front of the hut.

A police officer described Pizova as "overwhelmed" when they landed.

Petr's body was found the following day in waist deep snow in steep terrain. Cliffs were found around the edge of the scrub.

Ondrej Petr died from hypothermia on the Routeburn Track in 2016.
SUPPLIED / FACEBOOK

'WE MADE A FEW MISTAKES'

Two days after she was rescued, Pizova gave a press conference at the Queenstown Police Station. Clutching a written statement, she told of her harrowing ordeal and her desperate attempts to be rescued.

"At the hut, considering my physical health, the deep snow conditions, knowing there were avalanche paths ahead of me ... I knew it was best to stay in the safe place."

She said she wanted to pass a "strong message" to anyone intending to tramp in the New Zealand mountains. Seek very good information and respect the winter conditions and quickly changing weather, she said.

"I am aware we made a few mistakes – not leaving our intentions with somebody, not carrying a PLB (personal locator beacon) and underestimating the winter conditions on the track. All these aspects contributed to our tragedy."

She thanked everyone involved in her rescue.

In later comments, police said Petr's clothing was inadequate for a tramp in snow and alpine conditions. Detective Alan Lee described the clothing as consistent with that worn for a day or overnight walk rather than suitable for entering a winter alpine environment.

RISK 'MISPERCEPTION'

The snowshoes made by Pavlina Pizova.
SUPPLIED / None

The Mountain Safety Council (MSC) and DOC also investigated.

The MSC report noted the couple's "goal-focused" mentality.

"It appears Petr and Pizova did not consider alternatives once they had started the track. The goal-focused mentality continued and possibly underpins the decision to continue on to Lake MacKenzie rather than sheltering at the Harris Shelter or returning to the Routeburn Falls hut. The focus on reaching Lake MacKenzie also led them to skip breakfast and head directly down the spur from Ocean Peak corner."

The MSC identified several examples of "misperception or underestimation" of the risk the couple was encountering.

"It appears Petr, acting as trip leader, made critical decisions along the way ... the couple considered themselves more experienced than the public, therefore they would be fine, despite the advice they had been given."

Despite Pizova being aware her partner was suffering from hypothermia, it appeared she took no action to treat or manage it and that reaching the hut was the only option to treat him. Pizova should have "given up" finding the hut and found a place to shelter from the snow and wind, the report said.

The couple's failure to tell anyone where they were going did not contribute to Petr's death but Pizova could have been rescued earlier, the report said.

The report concluded that although the ultimate cause of Petr's death was hypothermia, there were many opportunities to make decisions that "almost certainly" would have led to a different outcome.

Edy MacDonald, a social science manager at DOC, commented in her report on whether different signage may have changed the pair's behaviour.

MacDonald said: "Young males ignoring warnings… is not restricted to New Zealand". "Young males have a propensity for risk, especially physical risk."

She added overseas tourists could overestimate their ability and experience. "Optimism bias" was very difficult to mitigate.

Mackenzie Hut on the Routeburn Track near Queenstown where Pavlina Pizova was rescued.
IAN MCGREGOR / FAIRFAX NZ