NZsnowboard.com

30th July 2008

 A snowboarder has survived a cold night in the open just below Mt Hutt Ski Area after getting lost in deteriorating weather yesterday (Tues July 29).

The alarm was raised when the man, who is a French national, failed to turn up to work at around 6.00pm.  Ski area manager Dave Wilson said a rescue plan was immediately mounted.

We alerted Search & Rescue and Police and activated our emergency response plan.  By 9.00pm we had a fair idea about where he had been snowboarding and had teams searching the areas that we could get access to.

The searchers found tracks presumed to be the snowboarders at around 11.30pm below South Face but by midnight had to call off the search due to appalling and worsening weather.

The rest of the night was spent planning a renewed search to be instigated at first light. With more snow and heavy weather in the forecast, we knew we needed to find him quickly, and certainly before the next front came through.

A helicopter and seven search teams were dispatched at first light this morning (Wed July 30) and the man was found by 8.30am in the Pudding Hill area, just below the tree line and outside of the ski area.

He was extracted from his position by helicopter and was in reasonably good shape according to Mr Wilson.

We would like to thank the Methven Search & Rescue team which worked through the night to make sure that the search this morning as efficient as possible. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated and experienced team in our area that can step up when these situations occur.

Mr Wilson says around 30 people were involved in the search & rescue effort.

Further information: Mt Hutt Ski Area manager Dave Wilson on 027 438 6422

LINK:   www.nzski.com