Avalanche training for Search and Rescue teams from Mt Ruapehu, Whanganui and Taranaki was held on Mt Ruapehu over an appropriately freezing weekend.
Real-life avalanches, where anyone is caught up in them, are time-critical events with only a narrow window of opportunity to rescue anyone alive - so it is important for personnel to keep their skills up to date.
Senior Sergeant Matt Prendergast, who organised the recent exercise, says training included practical experience for teams in the field and those supporting them in the Incident Management team (IMT).
“Training involved civilian specialist Alpine Rescue Teams from the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation (RARO) and the Taranaki Alpine Cliff Rescue (TACR) getting together to practise their skills in the event of a real-life avalanche scenario occurring around Mt Ruapehu or on Mt Taranaki,” says Matt.
“These two teams have worked together in the past on SAR operations on these mountains.”
The fog of SAR - practising probing in appropriately challenging conditions.
Scotty Barrier and Jono Gillan, specialist instructors from Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Rescue Team (AMCART), instructed the teams around use of transceivers, probes and search dogs to find and rescue people, along with staying safe in that environment.
“While the field teams were practising in the snow, Police SAR members from Whanganui, National Park and Taranaki were training around skills needed in the IMT to support the field teams,” says Matt.
Instructors were Kip Mandeno from NZ LandSAR and Senior Constable Conrad Smith, from National Park Police Station.
RARO rescue dog Rudi - handler Blair Watson - digs deep.
The training and the exercise were a valuable opportunity to learn and refresh skills for the field and IMT teams, and build relationships between the different organisations.
As Mt Ruapheu is very exposed, icy conditions are common and sliding is a significant hazard for anyone heading above the snowline, especially climbers and backcountry skiers/splitboarders, according to the NZ Mountain Safety Council.
Getting lost on a skifield, especially in whiteout conditions, is another common factor because the mountain’s terrain makes it more difficult to identify the controlled ski area boundaries.
Volunteers on the mountain take a moment.
Anyone planning to leave the ski area boundaries should check in with ski patrol to make them aware and to get the latest information on conditions.
More information on staying safe in avalanche terrain, including the three important components needed before you go, is available on the NZ Avalanche Advisory website.
You can follow the links below for two first-person accounts of avalanche survival, from NZ Avalanche Advisory:
- A personal quest for avalanche awareness - Owen's story
- It’s not a waste of a trip if you survive, right? - Will's story