A tramper who has been stuck in the Tararua Ranges since Sunday will be uplifted today.
The man walked into the bush on Sunday with the intention of walking to the McGregor Hut along Pinnacle Ridge – however, severe weather conditions forced him to activate his emergency locator beacon at 9.24pm on Sunday night.
With winds of up to 130km/h and torrential rain lashing the ridges, search and rescue (SAR) teams were unable to get to him, forcing him to stay in the ranges overnight.
He was instructed to make his way to a nearby bivvy hut for shelter overnight and SAR teams remained on the ranges in huts to wait until they could rescue him.
Just before 3am on Tuesday, SAR teams made it to the hut where the man was sheltering – he is reportedly in "good spirits" according to a police spokesperson and rescue teams will make arrangements to get him out of the ranges once the weather settles enough to allow it.
