KEY POINTS:
Three men are being praised for saving the life of a hypothermic Frenchwoman on Mt Tongariro, and a badly injured Swiss man saved his own life by walking for two hours for help after falling on the other side of the mountain.
Police described yesterday as a "day
of carnage" on the mountain and repeated pleas for people to take precautions after three separate incidents involving tourists who were attempting the Tongariro Crossing.
Senior Constable Barry Shepherd said yesterday's drama started at 11.30am when three Te Awamutu men in their 40s came across the Frenchwoman and her English fiance on the verge of hypothermia.
The tourists, who were both believed to be aged 26, were 2 1/2 hours up the mountain and on their way to Red Crater when the woman was struck by the cold.
"Three New Zealand boys from Te Awamutu have come across these two and they have saved her life," said Mr Shepherd. "They had all the right gear, these guys from Te Awamutu - sleeping bags, food and drink - so they were able to stick with her and give her a hand."
The men called for help on their cellphones, then wrapped the woman in their sleeping bags and looked after her until help arrived.
A Ruapehu Alpine Rescue team and the Lion Foundation rescue helicopter were on their way to rescue the woman when a second call for help came in.
It was from a warden at Ketetahi Hut, where the 32-year-old Swiss man had staggered in with a number of injuries.
Mr Shepherd said the man had walked the track beside the Red Crater but slipped and fell while descending to the Emerald Lakes.
"He broke his arm, bashed his face, bashed his leg and decided that if he lay there he would die, so he got up and he walked to Ketetahi Hut, which would be about two hours."
The man was flown from the hut to an ambulance and driven to Taupo Hospital, where he was being treated last night.
Mr Shepherd said the man would have died "without doubt" had he not walked to get help.
The third incident occurred at about 3.30pm, when two English tourists tried to climb Red Crater.
Mr Shepherd said one of the men "decided he couldn't do it - they were trying to crawl up there on the ice - so he turned around to go back and slipped and fell. He's bashed himself as well and I think he's got some fractured ribs."
The men managed to walk back to the road, where they found help.
"By that stage we had the helicopter down there and a couple of ambulances and other rescuers so they walked into our arms, basically."
The 22-year-old Englishman was taken to hospital and was last night being treated for internal injuries, together with the Frenchwoman who was being treated for hypothermia.
The woman's fiance was treated for the cold on the mountain but did not need hospital care.
Mr Shepherd said four of the tourists had all gone to the mountain on the same bus about 8am, but were not travelling together.
"They were given advice on the weather - the forecast was for conditions to deteriorate - and ... some would question the merit in actually doing the crossing."
Mr Shepherd said the weather started off all right but the tourists were not prepared for the slippery, cold and icy conditions.
"All these people who needed our help were wearing running shoes. We are pretty disappointed that people are going in footwear that is unsuitable and they are walking in conditions that require an ice axe and crampons."
In April last year police urged people attempting the Tongariro Crossing to be better prepared after 70-year-old American tourist Raydene Shepard died of hypothermia. She was wearing only light clothing.
