Death cheated: he's a very lucky boy
By IAN STEWARD - The Press | Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Alpine rescuers have praised the life-saving actions of a mountain climber, Cameron Walker, after his climbing companion survived a 180m fall.

Police said a 20-year-old man fell about 11.30am yesterday while descending Mount Philistine, in the Arthurs Pass area, after reaching the summit.

Rescuer Graeme Kates, who flew with the Westpac rescue helicopter to winch the climber to safety, said the man had fallen 60m from Warnocks Bluff through a "gully and bluff system", and then tumbled and slid down a snowface a further 120m.

"He's a very lucky boy," Kates said.

The man's climbing companion, Aucklander Cam Walker, went down to his injured friend and "set him up very well" on a 20deg to 30deg slope, Kates said.

"We have to commend his friend for doing a very good first-aid job," he said.

The friend made sure the fallen climber was warm and out of the line of any rock or snowfalls, then went to Arthurs Pass village "in world-record time", Kates said.

Cameron Walker reached the village and raised the alarm by about 1.25pm.

The rescue helicopter and a St John paramedic were sent to help, and the climber was winched into the helicopter and flown to Christchurch Hospital.






He was reported to have serious pelvic and back injuries and possibly a broken leg.

Another rescuer, Hamish Reid, said the fall appeared to have occurred on a band of cliffs about one-third of the way down the mountain.

Kates said that the snow was soft and inconsistent and although the mountain was not considered a difficult climb there had been several deaths on it.

Two men died in 2001 and 2002 after falls from the Warnocks Bluff section.

New Zealand Alpine Club committee member Clayton Garbes said Mount Philistine was "relatively straightforward", but the Warnocks Bluff section the climber fell from was the "trickiest" part. "It's just a bit exposed. You have to watch your footing," he said.

Falling from the bluff usually meant death. "If I was him, I'd be going out and buying a Lotto ticket," Garbes said.

Mountain tumbler lucky to be alive

New Zealand Herald,

Thursday July 17, 2008

By Jarrod Booker

As he tumbled "like a rag doll" about 170m down a South Island mountain, Steffen Poepjes was sure he was either going to end up dead or paralysed.

The fact the Auckland student survived, with few serious injuries, had rescuers and the mountaineers calling him incredibly lucky.

"There's been a few deaths up there before, and I think I was being looked after by an angel or something, mate," the Papatoetoe 20-year-old told the Herald from his hospital bed.

Bloodied and bruised after coming to a stop, Mr Poepjes wiggled his toes and was flooded with relief that he still had movement.

"Firstly, I was like 'has this really happened?' Then I started spitting blood out of my mouth and felt the pain, and was like 'yeah, it has really happened'."

His friend and fellow climber, Cameron Walker, 23, got to him minutes later and checked him out, before making a two-hour trek to get help.

"He definitely saved my life. I couldn't thank him enough."

The pair had gone to the South Island and tackled the 1967m Mount Philistine because it wasn't considered too "technically difficult".

They made their way up the mountain on Tuesday morning relatively safely.

But as they started to descend, just after 11am, they found the going more difficult when negotiating the "tricky" Warnocks Bluff section.

"The snow was quite slushy, so I dug my crampons in and obviously they didn't hold ... and yeah, started falling," Mr Poepjes said.

"I just went through the rocks and the tussock. I remember falling off the first bluff and hitting the ground, and just going 'oh, that's definitely something broken there'."

The next bluff he fell over was a much bigger drop.

"I remember just free-falling through the air, waiting for the impact of the fall. I thought I was going to die."

At the bottom of this bluff he slid for about 100m, but couldn't remember much because he was too dazed.

He does recall Mr Walker calling out to him from above, but was too sore to respond.

Mr Walker had just done a first-aid course and did what he could to get his friend into a comfortable position, digging out a seat in the snow and making a pillow for his head.

During the two-hour wait for rescue Mr Poepjes kept falling asleep and forced himself to wake again.

A helicopter lifted him out and he was flown to Christchurch Hospital, where he was found to have a broken rib and extensive bruising to his kidneys and other parts of his body.

Mr Walker said the sight of his friend tumbling down the mountain initially caused him to panic.

It was a huge relief to see he was not as badly hurt as he'd feared.

Rescuer Hamish Reid said Mr Poepjes was very lucky, but his helmet and backpack would have shielded him from more serious injury.

Two people have died near where Mr Poepjes plunged, in 2001 and 2002.

Mr Poepjes hopes to leave hospital today, and return to Auckland before starting a new job.

But he wants more adventures.

"When you fall off a mountain, you get back on."