Climber injured in moraine wall fall

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 2

Climber injured in moraine wall fall

Timaru reporter An Australian climber who suffered a fall in the Mount Cook National Park on Boxing Day is in a satisfactory condition in Timaru Hospital. Mike Hardy, aged 22, of Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, fell 50m down a moraine wall near the De la Beche Hut. He dislocated his right hip and broke his left elbow. Mr Hardy was flown by helicopter to Lake Tekapo after being rescued by national park staff. He was then taken by ambulance to Timaru Hospital. Mr Hardy with three companions was returning from the Tasman Glacier and ascending the moraine wall below the hut when he slipped and fell back down the wall. The steep wall is a mixture of rock and silt. “It would not be a nice place for the injured I kin rat'Aiioro nF

8.30 at night,” said Mr Martin Heidi, senior ranger of Mount Cook National Park. Two search and rescue mountaineers, Messrs Lindsay Bell and Andy Harris, were flown in by a Lake Tekapo helicopter pilot, Mr Ron Small, at 8.30 p.m. after Mr Hardy’s companions had climbed to the hut for help at 7.10 p.m. Messrs Bell and Harris went down by rope from the helicopter to a spot near Mr Hardy. A skm wind was blowing and it was overcast. A major risk was the dusk which set in quickly, said Mr Heidi. Messrs Bell and Harris decided to stay with Mr Hardy. At 9.30 p.m. two other search and rescue team members, Mr Mike Roberts and Ms Mary-Anne Hobbs, were flown in by Mr Small. , Mr Hardy was put on a

rescuers were lifted and set down on level ground. Mr Small then picked up the other two rescuers, and flew the whole party back to park headquarters. From there Mr Small, flew Mr Hardy and Constable Bill Apes of Lake Tekapo, to Tekapo. Mr Hardy was treated by a Fairlie doctor before being, taken to Timaru Hospital. Mr Hardy had been on a previous trip to Mount Cook earlier this summer.