ARC was called at 9pm on April 10th to recover an uninjured climber who had become stuck in steep terrain on Mt Rolleston, Arthurs Pass National Park.
The climber had climbed themselves into a position in which they were unable or willing to attempt a reversal of the moves that lead them to become stranded on a small ledge located amongst steep terrain at a relatively high elevation on the north-western aspect of Mt Rolleston.
The climber made the decision to stay put as they had concerns that they could not safely reverse the moves that lead them into their position.
They were uninjured, reasonably equipped for the night, but required assistance.
A night time assessment of the situation was made by the Greymouth rescue helicopter crew and a decision to attempt a rescue in daylight hours was reached.
A helicopter reconnaissance flight was undertaken and the climbers position was identified.
Weather conditions were moderate, with gusting wind and building cloud.
Due to a forecast for deteriorating weather conditions, an attempt was made to undertake fast recovery of the climber by being directly winched to the climber’s location on a small ledge. Due to wind, the helicopter was not able to maintain its position over the climber and an attempt to winch rescue team member was abandoned due to a significant updraft that required the helicopters pilot to move away from their hover position.
The helicopter moved to a less exposed position and from where it could maintain a hover and lower the rescuers by winch to a position a few hundred meters below the stranded climber.
From there, the team of 2 rescuers were able to climb moderately steep snow & rock to reach the climber.
Loose rock was a major hazard, as well as firm, icy snow and sharp rock with the potential to damage or cut ropes.
The team assisted the stranded climber’s decent by rope by abseiling the rock face and downclimbing the snow patch. Due to strong winds the group were collected by the helicopter at a lower altitude where winds were less strong.
The team returned to Arthur’s Pass Village by 1pm after a successful outcome.
Alpine Rescue Canterbury 