The uninjured companion climbed alone to the summit to raise the alarm, triggering a complex multi-agency rescue operation that successfully brought both men off the mountain by approximately 1am.
Three Hours to Cell Coverage on the Country’s Ninth Highest Peak
Police received a report of the fall at around 6.15pm on Tuesday, launching an alpine operation on the country’s ninth highest mountain. Wānaka Sergeant Darren Cranfield stated that the uninjured climber faced an extremely challenging situation, having to climb for more than three hours to find enough cell reception to call for help. The rescue was coordinated by police, who tasked Helicopters Otago’s alpine division alongside the volunteer Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue team.
Graeme Gale, chief executive of Helicopters Otago, noted that the high-altitude operation at 3,033 metres was one of the most significant his crews had undertaken. According to Gale, the mission represented a worst-case scenario with a potentially bad outcome. Alpine rescue specialist Jono Gillan, who was aboard the aircraft, explained that initial reports suggested they were retrieving one survivor and recovering a deceased body from the west face of Mount Aspiring.
High-Altitude Single-Skid Landing on a Snow Shelf
Rescue crews first reached the surviving climber on the summit by helicopter. Rather than using a full winch extraction, the pilot landed the aircraft with a single skid touching a snow shelf, a maneuver that Gillan emphasized requires extensive training, skill, and experience. Favourable weather conditions allowed the crew to execute the landing safely.
A Light 600 Metres Below the Summit Yields a Shocking Discovery
While flying toward the area, the flight crew spotted a light roughly 600 metres below the summit. Although they initially suspected it might belong to an unrelated climbing party, an investigation revealed it was the climber who had fallen. Gale expressed astonishment at finding the man alive and moving under his own power after such a severe fall.
Midnight Extraction and the Matterhorn of the South
Both climbers were safely off the mountain by about 1am, roughly seven hours after authorities first received the emergency report. Sergeant Cranfield described the operation as complex and dynamic because two lives remained at risk throughout the night. Both Gale and Gillan credited the successful outcome to the close collaboration between Helicopters Otago’s air crew and the volunteer alpine rescue sector, highlighting the extensive joint training shared by the teams.
Mount Aspiring, located west of Lake Wānaka, is the tallest peak outside of Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and is frequently called the Matterhorn of the South due to its distinct pyramidal peak.
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