Dear ACR Electronics,
We hired one of your beacons (an ACR Electronics ResQFix™ 406 GPS
Personal Locator Beacon) before a six-day walk on New Year’s Eve in the
wilderness area near Mt. Aspiring, New Zealand. We were unfortunate
enough to have to use the beacon - and incredibly fortunate we had it
with us.
My husband, Steven Niederer, 28, was injured in the accident and wrote
the description below in the hopes that it may be useful to you to use
as a testimonial. I would also like to add my thanks to the Southland
Locator Beacon Charitable Trust for providing beacons at such reasonable
rates. We would have been in real trouble without it, and for $35 a
week, no one should head out into wilderness areas without one.
Regards and thank you,
Heather Niederer
Survivor Story
By Steven Niederer
We were told about the Five Passes walk by hiking friends. It was
described as a challenging hike, with majestic scenery and an
opportunity to experience true isolation in backcountry New Zealand. We
knew it would be a challenge with no huts, no formed path, limited track
descriptions and the possibility of snow. We set off with an abundance
of food and gear to cover the many possible eventualities we might
encounter on such a trip.
The route included crossing snowy passes, scree slopes and steep
gullies. These sections were bound to be more challenging but over each
of these stages we were extra cautious and avoided any mishaps. The 4th
day started the same as the previous mornings with porridge and coffee
before setting off. For the first part of the morning we were walking
along deer tracks through low scrub and beech forest on a gentle slope
beside Hidden Falls creek. The track we had been following led us
between two car- sized boulders separated by two feet to provide a
comfortable path.
As I walked between the two boulders I heard a crack as my foot went
through some dead wood lying on the forest floor. As my foot went
through the wood I heard the sound of movement and a rock previously
supported by the log on the uphill boulder came away. The rock rolled
down the short distance to reach me and crushed my arm and hips on the
boulder below. The dislodged rock then rolled onto my leg, crushing my
thigh onto a sharp part of the lower boulder, slicing a wide deep gash
down to the muscle. Luckily the rock continued to roll off me and down
the slope, leaving me free but badly hurt and in shock.
As I screamed in pain, the first thing that went through my mind was to
get help, as it was pretty clear we were in a world of trouble.
Fortunately, we had taken advice and rented an emergency locator beacon
for a mere $35. My wife set off the ACR Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)
within seconds of the accident occurring. Following her Duke of
Edinburgh skills training, she bound my leg, moved me onto a thermomat,
covered me in my sleeping bag, heated up some apple tea and laid out my
bright orange pack liner on a wide rock outcrop next to the river to
mark us out for the helicopter.
I lay shaking on the thermomat looking up at the sky. After 10 minutes
every sound I heard seemed to be that of an approaching helicopter and
rescue. The ResQFix™ PLB had a reassuring green light confirming a
strong GPS signal and as we waited we hoped that the technology was
working. At this stage, it was a good two days walk out that crossed
rivers and two more passes, and with only the two of us in our party the
only option was to wait, rely on the beacon and hope for a helicopter.
After only an hour and a half, the low thumping sound of a helicopter
could be heard above the noise of the nearby waterfall. The thumping
grew louder and louder before the helicopter passed above us, flashing
over me through a clearing in the trees. There was a brief moment of
fear as the sound of the helicopter dropped away after the first pass.
This was replaced by jubilation as the noise returned and the helicopter
circled back round, hovering above us to confirm that we had been
sighted.
The two-man search and rescue team was with us shortly. With calm blokey
enthusiasm and encouragement, they strapped up my arm, which had somehow
been broken, okayed my wife’s bandage on my leg and supported me down to
the flat rock outcrop by the river. They then collected all the gear and
bits of bandaging, as always applying the fundamental tramping axiom:
pack it in - pack it out.
The helicopter landed elegantly, balanced on the rocky outcrop, and we
were whisked away over the route we had been planning to walk. In
Wanaka, we were met by a helicopter from the Otago Rescue Helicopter
Trust and were carried to Dunedin Hospital. I received excellent care in
the hospital and spent New Year’s Eve in surgery having my cut cleaned
and a metal plate put into my arm.
The walk we attempted had a number of unique challenges, but it was when
walking through beech forest, which we have done on countless previous
hikes, that our accident happened. You do not know where or when an
accident will occur but you can plan for what happens when it does. If
you have a serious accident in the backcountry, without a Personal
Locator Beacon you have no options; with a beacon we were rescued in
under two hours. It was the best $35 I ever spent. Thank you ACR
Electronics for manufacturing outstanding PLBs and Southland Locator
Beacon Charitable Trust for providing the beacons at reasonable rates.