Man describes fall on Mt Haidinger

Press, 15 April 1980, Page 3

Man describes fall on Mt Haidinger

Timaru reporter A verdict that Helen Christine Withers, aged 26, of Waitati, near Dunedin, died in a fall on. - Mount Haidinger on December 29, 1979, has been returned by the Timaru District Coroner (Mr E. G .Bradley). John Langley, of Waitati, said that he and Miss Withers had been nearing the summit when he slipped while putting a belay about 10m above her. He fell down a slope and ;er a bluff, before coming to a halt hanging upside down in space. He said he called to Miss Withers and, although he received no reply, he was not concerned as there was a wind blowing and he was shouting into the bluff. He managed, by swinging him-

self, to get back to the bluff, and began climbing back up. Witness thought that Miss Withers was all right and was holding the rope as he climbed back up a ridge. To his horror, he saw that the rope went over the ridge and out of sight. Miss Withers’ ’ body had been hauling him up, he said. He found it difficult to climb down to her but got as close as 10m. There was no movement in response to his calls. Mr Langley told the court that his injuries and nerves had begun to limit his climbing capabilities. He decided to head for the Pioneer Hut and seek help. On the way he saw a long trail of blood on the snow where Miss Withers had

fallen, and further down found her pack and parka. Theoretically, Miss Withers and the belay should have held his fall, but this had not happened. His reconstruction was that, when he fell, Miss Withers had naturally got a fright and, when his weight came down on the rope, she had been unable to hold him. “I continued to fall and the rope kept running out: it is possible she may have lost her balance and fell,” he said. “The belay would have held her, but once my weight came on to her harness and then the belay, it was too much for the belay and it gave, way,” Mr Langley said.