PLBs and Perspective Changes - Ball Pass
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| Aoraki Mt Cook Resuce Team (Maddy Whittaker) |
June 2019
Ignorance is bliss huh? Day one was frosty even in the glorious sun. Frozen Hooker Lake, frozen streams, frosty tussock, waterfalls turned into icicles. A wonderfully dynamic land - the awe inspiring Hooker glacier creeping into view, Aoraki rearing up in all its majesty, massive moraine collapses gradually stealing the Ball Pass route away. Prancing joyfully through it all, up to the most incredible campsite up on the Playing Fields. Digging out a pit for our tent beneath the stars, oh so many stars.
We had no idea that in 12 hours time we would be activating a PLB. I’ve tried a few times to try and describe what happened but nothing really seems to convey it properly. In short, we were nearing the top of the zig zag and conditions were super icy - I was getting my new sharp front points and sum tec pick in about a cm - can’t imagine how blunt club crampons and walking axes felt. Not everyone in the group felt comfortable going up in these conditions. Not everyone in the group felt comfortable going down either. We got to somewhere safer, got warm, made tea, had some sugar. Thought things through. Even after some time to breathe, some people in group still shaking, pale, wanting to throw up. Conditions weren't warming up. In fact as weather was going to be coming in later, the temps weren't due to rise. The decision was not taken lightly - if all of us felt we could have walked out safely then we would have done that in a heartbeat. Pulling a PLB isn’t fun.
First ever helicopter ride. The team giving us breakfast, briefings and chats at the base. The feedback was that we'd made a good decision. It was sobering to hear. "You know why we flew under the cliffs below you first before coming up to where you were? Cause usually this kind of thing is a body recovery. We're stoked you guys are all okay."
“Also you should check your PLB battery - did you guys know your PLB has been activated before? In Milford Sound in 2015? (when Max, Peter and Tiff also got stuck - kind of fitting isn’t it?).
Things like this stick in your mind for a long time. Running over 100,000 scenarios of what could have happened. Over analysing every decision in the lead up - if I’d done that differently would this or that have been different? I learned some people are incredibly helpful following a situation like this (thank you so so much), and some people are not. So perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from this whole thing is that if you weren’t there, a lot of care should be taken if you are going to make judgements about what happened.
Things like this stick in your mind for a long time. Running over 100,000 scenarios of what could have happened. Over analysing every decision in the lead up - if I’d done that differently would this or that have been different? I learned some people are incredibly helpful following a situation like this (thank you so so much), and some people are not. So perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from this whole thing is that if you weren’t there, a lot of care should be taken if you are going to make judgements about what happened.
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| Frozen puddles |
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| Hooker Glacier terminus (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Aoraki (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Midday freezing temperatures (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Looking back down on the lake (Maddy Whittaker) |
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| Hooker Glacier and Aoraki (Maddy Whittaker) |
August 2019
I ran into the entire team that picked us up off Ball Pass up at Tasman Saddle Hut. It was awesome to be able to thank them again in person. Absolute legends!
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