{"id":167438,"date":"2026-05-13T11:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/?post_type=survivor-stories&#038;p=167438"},"modified":"2026-05-14T07:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T12:54:08","slug":"mountain-fall-rescue-in-new-zealand-how-an-acr-resqlink-plb-helped-save-my-life","status":"publish","type":"survivor-stories","link":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/survivor-stories\/mountain-fall-rescue-in-new-zealand-how-an-acr-resqlink-plb-helped-save-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Fall Rescue in New Zealand: How an ACR ResQLink PLB Helped Save My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>My climbing partner and I arrived in Mt Cook Village planning to traverse the Kirikirikatata range from Mt Wakefield to Ball Pass, but the route was closed due to a 1080 drop. We quickly changed plans and decided to attempt Mt Dark in the Ben Ohau range, approaching via Bush Stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a great climb through the valley, we reached the Back Bush Stream basin and chose a scree ramp to ascend. As we pushed higher, we became slightly separated, with me above my partner. At around 2000m, I found a potential campsite and climbed a short bluff above it to scope the final section, still carrying my full pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top, I paused to take in the view and photograph a couple of tahr nearby. With daylight fading, I began descending and warned my partner not to follow. About five meters from the bottom, the rock beneath my foot gave way and I began tumbling down the slope, picking up speed across the steep scree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I eventually came to a stop, battered but conscious. After checking myself over, I thought I had escaped with mostly cuts and a broken finger. But when my partner tried to help me up, I felt severe pain in my lower back and knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point, I activated my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/products\/resqlink-400\/\">ACR ResQLink PLB<\/a>. Almost exactly two hours later, the Southern Lakes Rescue Helicopter SAR team arrived. I was winched out on a backboard, along with my partner, and flown to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remarkably, despite falling around five meters off the bluff and tumbling more than 30 meters down rocky terrain, I did not suffer any lasting injuries. This experience was a powerful reminder of how quickly things can change in the mountains and the importance of carrying a PLB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My climbing partner and I arrived in Mt Cook Village planning to traverse the Kirikirikatata range from Mt Wakefield to Ball Pass, but the route was closed due to a 1080 drop. We quickly changed plans and decided to attempt Mt Dark in the Ben Ohau range, approaching via Bush Stream. After a great climb [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":609969,"featured_media":167426,"template":"","survivor-category":[],"terrain":[21],"survivor-event":[],"survivor-cause":[123],"survivor-rescue":[2832],"class_list":["post-167438","survivor-stories","type-survivor-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","terrain-mountain","survivor-cause-medical-emergency","survivor-rescue-helicopter-rescue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-stories\/167438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/survivor-stories"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/609969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"survivor-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-category?post=167438"},{"taxonomy":"terrain","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/terrain?post=167438"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-event","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-event?post=167438"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-cause","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-cause?post=167438"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-rescue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-rescue?post=167438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}