Mount Pirongia

Home

/

Survivor Stories

/

Mount Pirongia

Lives saved

1

Hiking

Hiking

Mountain

Mountain

Medical emergency

Medical emergency

Thunder storm

Thunder storm

Hiking

Mount Pirongia

-37.9925°S, 175.0983333°E

Posted on May 2, 2018 by McKinney

What happened?

We were away for weekend tramp to Pahautea Hut in Mt Pirongia. We made it to the hut on the Saturday night after a long damp day getting there. We arose Sunday morning to find another damp day as the mountain had pretty well clagged in, not alot of visibility. But we headed off as we needed to get home for the following week at work and school. About 2.5hrs into the return journey, Shanelle slipped on a greasy log and twisted her knee. An ice pack and Ibuprofen were quickly applied and we took the opportunity to stop for a quick lunch. It became quickly obvious that Shanelle wasn’t going to be able to walk the rest of the way out, 6 or 7km to go and over quite rooty and muddy terrain. The decision was made to activate the PLB and get helicopter asistance. The other 3 scouts in the party opted to continue hiking out; they had the experience, gear and fitness to do so; so off they went. Shanelle was left waiting with Kerrin our scout leader. It took an hour and a half for the chopper to arrive, and then another 20 mins for them to locate us. We were in a 10m wide clearing in fairly dense bush, and no real way of signalling our location until they were right over us. A medic and police officer were winched onto our site. Shanelle got winched up first, followed by Kerrin and our gear. The police officer took off down the trail to ensure the other 3 scouts made it out ok. Kerrin got dropped at our vehicle to meet the boys, while Shanelle got taken to Waikato Hospital for a checkup. The boys arrived shortly after Kerrin did. Shanelle was discharged later the night with a badly sprained knee, no return to the bush anytime soon for her!

Words of wisdom

We’re very grateful to the team at the NZ Rescue Centre and Westpac Helicopters Wakato for coming to get us.

Thank you note

Thank you ACR!

Rescue location

Mount Pirongia

Rescue team

Local Search and Rescue

ResQLink™

Go to product details

It may be small, but it's tough. The ResQLink™ PLB Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is a GPS-enabled rescue beacon that's suited for outdoor adventures of all sizes (think: everything from hiking and cycling to hunting and fishing). Should you run into an unexpected situation, the ResQLink PLB will relay your location to a network of search and rescue satellites. PLBs have helped save thousands of people's lives. This Product has been Upgraded. Click Here for Available Upgrade WARNING: PROP 65    

Out of stock

ResQLink™ saves lives

Survivor Stories

Hiker Unknowingly Saves Herself From A Fatal Heart Attack With PLB

Somewhere in the darkness I had decided that there was no way I could walk out of here... not even retracing our steps.

Read Full Story

Locator Beacon Used for Hiker Injury

We were traveling along the track down a steep slippery section when my feet went from under me, sending me sliding down and my foot impacted with a tree trunk causing a significant injury to my ankle. My ankle was completely broken, and my foot attached to my leg only by tissue.

Read Full Story