Haley Baker had stepped on a loose rock in a small but steep stream above the bushline. The rock fell as she stepped on it and she fell over into the stream. After waiting an initial period and Hayley attempting to stand we activated the ACR PLB which indicated it had a gps signal, the helicopter arrived within 2 hours.

In the meantime Andrea gave Hayley some Codine and we were able to keep her warm with snowfoam, hot drinks etc. We were fortunate the wind was light and visibility good. The rescue person who was dropped by the helicopter did an assessment of the injury and got us to help move Hayley and pack to the spot where a hover load could be undertaken. Haleys partner Ben was also able to be transported with Hayley to the Hospital which was very useful as they are not from Christchuch.

We were impressed with the precision and professionalism of the rescue. Without the beacon we would have been very stuck as moving hayley would have hurt her ankle more, and we would only have been able to get her to Evangeline Bivouac as the terrain from there down was very difficult.

Back story – we were hiking/tramping over easter break, on thursday night we walked in the dark and heavy rain to Gabriel Hut, on friday along the lake sumner shore to Evangeline Stream. We travelled up the Evangeline stream which was running high making travel slower. We stayed a night at Evangeline Biv with 3 people camping outside and 5 inside. On Saturday we set up to near the top of Mt Longfellow and during a climb of a steep stream the incident occured.