The death of a woman mountain climbing on Mt Ruapehu was a “freak accident” that happened during a friends’ trip, the chairman of the mountain clubs association says.
Wednesday Davis died from a fall as she was climbing the central North Island mountain on Saturday. Davis’ friends remembered the promising biologist as a lovely and warm person, passionate about the ocean and sea life.
The chairman of the Tukino Mountain Clubs Association, Nigel Seebeck, who was also the incident controller for Saturday’s emergency response, called Davis’ fall a freak accident. He understood Davis was on a trip with her friends.
Seebeck said the mountain was covered with ice when the incident happened. He said conditions on Ruapehu were challenging and necessitated a high level of skill to remain safe.
“A lot of people don’t realise what pre-winter conditions are like on Ruapehu, especially with the weather patterns we’ve just had. Ruapehu, especially on the eastern side, had a lot of rain in the last week. We’ve had a lot of cold temperatures as well, so that promotes icing,” Seebeck said.
“I believe they [Davis and her friends] were on a southerly-facing slope, which based on our weather patterns at Tukino, would have been very hard and icy,” he said.
“Conditions on the mountain probably weren’t that great.”
The NZ Mountain Safety Council said it was devastated to hear of Davis’ death and also extended its condolences to her loved ones. Council chief executive Mike Daisley said they were still working with other authorities to understand the exact circumstances of her accident.
“Presently, early winter season conditions exist across our alpine areas. With these conditions come additional and varied challenges, compared with summertime,” Daisley said.
“Currently, low (shallow) snow levels mean that rocks continue to protrude above/through the snow surface. These create a significant hazard in the case of a fall and increase the chances of traumatic injuries if someone was to slide uncontrolled down a slope.
“Our alpine areas frequently experience variable weather conditions, including severe winds and freezing temperatures, and these are common year-round. Specifically, on Mt Ruapehu, strong winds and below-freezing temperatures are commonplace, often creating very firm or icy snow surface conditions.
“These icy conditions create a significant hazard for users and mean most terrain becomes a high-consequence environment. Icy conditions make stopping (arresting) a fall or slip very difficult.”
Daisely said hikers venturing into the alpine environment needed to do careful planning, beware of the variable early season conditions and need the correct equipment.
Seebeck agreed, saying people needed to take into consideration if it had rained recently and to make sure individuals in a climbing group had adequate skill levels.
“For example, if you’re going into an area where the slopes are above 30 degrees and there is likely to be ice, you must be good with an ice pick and be very strong with your feet in crampons.”
Police earlier said a group of people were climbing on the eastern side of Mt Ruapehu, near Whangaehu Hut about 11am on Saturday.
“During the climb, a woman in the group slipped and fell a significant distance, suffering serious injuries,” police have said tonight.
“Emergency services, the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter, members of the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation and Tukino Ski Field staff responded immediately.
“Sadly, despite their best efforts, the woman died at the scene.”
Police said Tukino skifield staff and local iwi Ngati Hikairo ke Tongariro are supporting the other group members.
“Our thoughts are with the woman’s family and climbing companions at this difficult time.
The University of Auckland Marine Science Society today also posted a tribute to the “wonderful” Davis on their Facebook page.
“Wednesday was our founder and the heart of the fire at UMSS.
“She completed her Undergraduate, PGDip and MSc within the University of Auckland and within the greater Auckland area had a multitude of jobs supporting the community.
“She was a beautiful person inside and out, and we are all greatly saddened by the loss of her far too soon.”
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.