Long john 'rope' helps tourists off icy mountain

A ‘rope’ made of long johns and a thermal top helped a stranded woman off an icy slope near the summit of Mt Taranaki.

Eltham mountaineers Lindsay Maindonald and Dave Sattler rescued the woman and her partner after they got into trouble in treacherously icy conditions.

The friends from Eltham were on a day trip above Dawson Falls on Monday when they spotted two people high above them.

“I thought they were rocks at first because they weren’t moving,” Sattler said.

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Eltham mountaineer Lindsay Maindonald helps a stranded tourist down the mountain, followed by her partner, during a rescue on Monday.

Some time later, they reached the couple, who were stranded on the ice not far from the false summit of Fanthams Peak, which is 1,966 metres above sea level.

The woman was unable to move up or down, and they had been there for about three-and-a-half hours.

“She just froze,” Sattler said.

The Department of Conservation says the route is “exposed and not recommended in ice and snow unless an experienced mountaineer”.

But the pair, who are on a working holiday from Malaysia, had limited experience and totally inadequate footwear for such a climb, Sattler said.

“I hate to think...There could have been a major accident or a fatality. There wasn’t anyone else coming up after us, as the day was pressing on.”

Lindsay Maindonald made a rope from long johns to bring the woman, who had no climbing experience, down the mountain.

Another climber stopped and helped them cut some steps into the ice to make it easier for the woman to walk down, but she was still struggling.

They needed to get them off before the mountain’s shadow came across and the slope got even icier, Maindonald, a veteran of 40 years’ mountaineering, said.

“I considered calling search and rescue but I knew we had a window we could get her down before the mountain froze over.”

He knotted a spare pair of long johns and a thermal top into a makeshift rope, then tied one end around her waist and took the other end to steady her as she walked.

“I said to her, ‘Did you know you’re fitted up with a long pair of men’s knickers?’ and she laughed,” he said.

They inched down the mountain, stopping frequently for the woman to rest.

“Dave went beside her, and I was above her, in case she fell.”

Her partner carried the woman’s pack as well as his own.

“It was probably the most major rescue I’ve done, although at the time you don’t think about it,” Maindonald, 65, said.

“Climbing up a mountain is only half way. It's easier to climb up. It’s coming down where things often go wrong.

Lindsay Maindonald used this improvised rope made of long johns and a thermal top to rescue a woman stranded on Mt Taranaki on Monday.

“The last thing we want is another fatality on our mountain, and it could have been two.”

Eventually they made it down and left the couple at their van.

The man, who did not give his name, said on Wednesday the conditions had been worse than they had anticipated.

“I knew it was going to be icy along the route, but it was more icy than we expected.”

Going up was easy, but coming back down again, his partner became very worried, he said.

Both had learned to use crampons climbing mountains in the United States, but in easier conditions.

“The ice was too slippery for her,” he said.

“I know how to get down on ice but I’m not very confident at guiding someone else, so Lindsay coming to help us was great.”