Lost American tourist sparks major overnight search
A 38-year-old lightly clad American tourist is lucky to be alive after a team of 13 searchers from Glenorchy and Queenstown spent hours in cold, rainy conditions overnight last Wednesday searching when he’d become lost in darkness returning from the Earnslaw Burn.
Glenorchy search and rescue medic Callan Grimmer and skilled local searcher Andrew Green set off at 10pm once the lost man managed to pick up cell phone reception on his return from the 26km to 27km round-trip hike.
The batteries on his head torch had gone flat and he’d ended up 600m off the track, 200m down a steep bush-clad bank by the river where he was found unresponsive.
Miraculously, Green and Grimmer struck the right area and managed to get some initial voice response in the darkness, but then the man went quiet, Grimmer says.
“Andrew did really well to find him. He bumped into him where he was at the bottom of a gully, by now lying curled in a ball, hyperthermic and unresponsive by the river.”
Bad weather prohibited helicopters coming from Te Anau or Queenstown and Grimmer says they were unable to winch him 200m up to the track, so Police called in the specialist Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue and Wakatipu Subalpine teams to help get the man out.
Alpine Cliff Rescue Team coordinator Russ Tilsley says they set off from Queenstown at midnight and by the time they reached the site the man was becoming a bit distressed, but they all worked with the medic to get his temperature back up. “He was okay but complaining of a sore leg and pretty buggered. We put him in a harness and pulled him up 200m to 300m to the track.”
The man had called Police and St John Ambulance in his desperate cry for help.
He was unprepared for the conditions, in a hoodie, pants and basketball shoes, carrying a cotton drawstring bag containing only a bottle of water, slice of cheese, large glass bong and packet of tobacco, Tilsley says.
His rescuers spent most of the night out searching and Tilsley says it’s another example of people being unprepared, not allowing themselves enough time and getting caught out in the dark. “He was not dressed
appropriately for winter in those conditions,” he says. “He was just fortunate that he had only just come back into a pocket of cell phone coverage.
“At this time of year, the days are shorter, it’s dark for longer. Always carry spare batteries for your head torch, several forms of communication, including a personal locator beacon, leave intentions with people and an expected time of return,” he says. “Dress appropriately, and especially if you’re by yourself don’t cross swollen rivers. Stay put and someone will come and find you come daylight. You don’t have to be back for work when your life is at stake.”
The Earnslaw Burn hike takes four hours just to get in.
Wanaka Police SAR incident controller Senior Constable Deane Harbison says they had received the 111 call from the man about 10pm, who said he was lost off the Earnslaw Burn Track surrounded by cliffs. He was eventually located around 12.30am unresponsive. “The Glenorchy team administered first aid and waited for further resources to arrive,” Harbison says.
Rescuers handed the man over to a waiting St John’s Ambulance around 5am in the track carpark. His vehicle was returned to him by Police and no charges have been laid, Harbison says. He would not comment further.
“Police would like to thank all the volunteers involved in this 9-hour operation; their dedication and professionalism is greatly appreciated.
Grimmer says the man was taken to Lakes District Hospital in a moderate condition in the ambulance and treated for hyperthermia.
He was understood to have been staying in his car near the Earnslaw Burn, a popular area for freedom campers, searchers say. The Earnslaw Burn with its spectacular glacier at the foot of Mount Earnslaw has become a magnet for young Instagrammers from around the world.
“It was a good result,” Grimmer says. “It could’ve been different if Andrew didn’t find him.”
