Dead trampers 'unprepared' for alpine conditions in forest park
Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Two trampers who died in Tararua Forest Park were just 900 metres away from their intended destination when they collapsed.
Police believe the pair were not prepared for the bad weather they encountered, and they weren't found with maps, a compass or GPS.
Mykhailo Stepura and Pavel Pazniak were found dead in the Tararua Forest Park, in southern Wairarapa, on November 21, 2016. They had set out two days before.
A coronial inquest in Masterton on Tuesday heard how a series of unfortunate events and poor decision-making led to the pair's death.
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Both men were foreign nationals but had been living in New Zealand for some time. Stepura, 39, known as Michael, lived in Lower Hutt, but was originally from Ukraine. Thirty-two-year-old Pazniak, known as Paul, lived in Auckland, but came from Belarus.
A forensic pathologist found both men died from hypothermia.
Sergeant Peter Rix, who is based in Masterton and is part of police search and rescue, said the pair had organised an overnight tramp to Alpha Hut.
Pazniak flew down from Auckland and the pair left Stepura's house at 5.30am on November 19. The following day, police received a call from Pazniak's wife, who was concerned her husband was overdue.
Search and rescue had to postpone their initial search until the next day, due to fading light.
That morning, the search resumed with a helicopter, which initially flew to Alpha Hut. Later that morning, a tramper came across a body on the track. Search and rescue were notified and shortly after the second body was found 50 metres away, lying among shrubs.
Both men were found with untouched food and personal items in their backpacks.
Rix said he had been part of search and rescue since 1997 and had been involved in many searches and body recovery operations in the Tararua Range. The weather there could be particularly harsh, especially above the bushline.
Using Google Earth, he measured the distance he believed the two men had been walking and planned to walk, and said their journey was 20.4 kilometres.
These distances could be misleading, because the exposed ridges could be demanding and difficult, Rix said. In his opinion, the two men were not wearing adequate protection from the weather, which they may have struggled through for a while.
Neither had a maps, compass, GPS or light source.
Rix said their planned route was ambitious, and the weather was stormy. He believed they died as they tried to reach Alpha Hut.
Acting Sergeant Anthony Matheson showed the inquest photos the pair had taken on their cellphones. These only showed the pair in open, exposed parts of the range, away from the shelter of the bush.
He said it was expected they would be away from the shelter of the bush for at least another six to eight hours. They still had to climb Mt Hector and negotiate open country known as the 'dress circle', where most hiking fatalities in the Tararua Range happened, due to exposure.
It was apparent the pair were not well equipped for a prolonged period in the bad conditions, Matheson said.
The bravado of the pair in the photos showed they had little concern or appreciation of the risks associated with the alpine journey they were about to undertake, he said.
Robert Howard said he saw the first body lying on the track mid-morning. He noticed the man's shoes looked fairly well used and not done up very tight.
The terrain was steep and there was an injury on the man's left knee – it was bruised with blood, and it looked like the man had slipped, he said.
Coroner Tim Scott said he believed the pair died overnight on Saturday, November 19, 2016, or in the early hours of the Sunday morning, before the search started.
The coroner reserved his findings.