First alpine helo rescue in NZ
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First alpine helo rescue in NZ
A story from today's Christchurch Press. Does anyone know what helos were used.
TK
TK
Recent avalanche deaths have triggered memories of Canterbury's first helicopter-assisted avalanche rescue on New Year's Eve in 1964.
Roger Gargett, 82, contacted The Press after the death of ski guide Jonathan Morgan in an avalanche in the Ragged Ranges near Methven.
In 1964, Gargett was a 37-year-old police sergeant in charge of search and rescue, and alpine rescue was "just coming into its own".
Once word was received of an accident, police would assemble a group of rescuers, usually with a group from Methven, Arthur's Pass, Oxford or Cheviot, and the team would trek into the mountains on foot and search for the injured climbers.
"It might take a week to bring a person out," Gargett said.
Equipment was basic ropes, crampons, stretchers, ice axes and leather boots.
"It was a very limited supply by today's standards."
On December 31, 1964, word was received that two Australian climbers had been critically injured in an avalanche on Mt Arrowsmith, just south of the ranges where Morgan was killed 45 years later.
Gargett said helicopters in search and rescue were "unheard of" at the time.
But the United States Navy, attached to Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica, had the icebreaker Glacier at Lyttelton.
An American officer suggested helicopters from the Glacier could assist in the search.
Task Force 43 , a US Navy-Christchurch police operation, was quickly established.
The Americans provided the helicopters, pilots, medics and rations, Gargett said.
Flying in the helicopter was "really scary stuff", but the two young US Navy pilots were "excellent".
The helicopters ferried about 15 people to a base at Lake Heron and then to the Cameron Hut on Mt Arrowsmith.
The Press at the time reported that the teams worked in relays to carry Eric Saxby, a 21-year-old Englishman living in Sydney, from the avalanche site at 2400 metres to the hut at 1200m.
Saxby was described as semi-conscious and had to be carried on a stretcher the whole way.
His companion, Robert John Ryan, 21, was also injured in the avalanche.
Police at the time said the helicopter cut "at least 16 hours" from the rescue of the men, who were flown to Christchurch Hospital.
Pilot Lieutenant Myron Meier told The Press of January 2, 1965: "The wind was not a major worry , but moving up the valley, which runs straight up with no room to turn, made my heart pump faster than normal. Except for emergency situations, it was the tightest spot I'd been in."
Gargett said the co-operation shown was "just tremendous".
The Americans "pulled out all stops to come to the aid of police" and the local volunteers provided vital assistance.
Without the helicopters, he doubted the climbers would have made it out alive.
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The deaths of Morgan and, a few weeks earlier in the same region, skier Llynden Riethmuller, 61, had brought memories flooding back, Gargett said.
"I read with interest the perils these people faced and I can imagine what they were going through," he said.
"In my search and rescue days I attended many avalanche incidents with a disastrous effect. Alpine snow is very unpredictable and unforgiving to the most knowledgeable of people. It shows no mercy to anyone caught in its path
"The mountains are majestic. They are wonderful from a distance, but on the spot they can be quite traumatic."
Roger Gargett, 82, contacted The Press after the death of ski guide Jonathan Morgan in an avalanche in the Ragged Ranges near Methven.
In 1964, Gargett was a 37-year-old police sergeant in charge of search and rescue, and alpine rescue was "just coming into its own".
Once word was received of an accident, police would assemble a group of rescuers, usually with a group from Methven, Arthur's Pass, Oxford or Cheviot, and the team would trek into the mountains on foot and search for the injured climbers.
"It might take a week to bring a person out," Gargett said.
Equipment was basic ropes, crampons, stretchers, ice axes and leather boots.
"It was a very limited supply by today's standards."
On December 31, 1964, word was received that two Australian climbers had been critically injured in an avalanche on Mt Arrowsmith, just south of the ranges where Morgan was killed 45 years later.
Gargett said helicopters in search and rescue were "unheard of" at the time.
But the United States Navy, attached to Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica, had the icebreaker Glacier at Lyttelton.
An American officer suggested helicopters from the Glacier could assist in the search.
Task Force 43 , a US Navy-Christchurch police operation, was quickly established.
The Americans provided the helicopters, pilots, medics and rations, Gargett said.
Flying in the helicopter was "really scary stuff", but the two young US Navy pilots were "excellent".
The helicopters ferried about 15 people to a base at Lake Heron and then to the Cameron Hut on Mt Arrowsmith.
The Press at the time reported that the teams worked in relays to carry Eric Saxby, a 21-year-old Englishman living in Sydney, from the avalanche site at 2400 metres to the hut at 1200m.
Saxby was described as semi-conscious and had to be carried on a stretcher the whole way.
His companion, Robert John Ryan, 21, was also injured in the avalanche.
Police at the time said the helicopter cut "at least 16 hours" from the rescue of the men, who were flown to Christchurch Hospital.
Pilot Lieutenant Myron Meier told The Press of January 2, 1965: "The wind was not a major worry , but moving up the valley, which runs straight up with no room to turn, made my heart pump faster than normal. Except for emergency situations, it was the tightest spot I'd been in."
Gargett said the co-operation shown was "just tremendous".
The Americans "pulled out all stops to come to the aid of police" and the local volunteers provided vital assistance.
Without the helicopters, he doubted the climbers would have made it out alive.
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The deaths of Morgan and, a few weeks earlier in the same region, skier Llynden Riethmuller, 61, had brought memories flooding back, Gargett said.
"I read with interest the perils these people faced and I can imagine what they were going through," he said.
"In my search and rescue days I attended many avalanche incidents with a disastrous effect. Alpine snow is very unpredictable and unforgiving to the most knowledgeable of people. It shows no mercy to anyone caught in its path
"The mountains are majestic. They are wonderful from a distance, but on the spot they can be quite traumatic."
