Woman spends the night lost on Mt Ngauruhoe

The Taupo Based Greenlea Rescue helicopter was tasked by the Taupo Police to The Tongariro National Park last night.

A 19 year old woman from Hamilton had set off with a group to walk the Tongariro crossing. The group spread out along the track and she was last seen at the top of the Devils Staircase. Late in the day the Police received a 111 phone call from the distressed woman, who was unable to establish her position.

Before her whereabouts was able to be established her phone battery went flat.

The Greenlea rescue helicopter spent the last hour of daylight checking the most obvious places of interest and then with the use of night vision equipment helped deploy search teams to strategic points on Mt Tongariro. Several LandSAR teams searched throughout the night.

At first light The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter returned to the Tongariro crossing. The early part of the day involved searching the eastern slopes of Mt Ngauruhoe. The missing woman who had spent a chill night lightly clad, spotted the helicopter and was able to get enough battery life to call Police again. She told them she had seen the helicopter before her phone went flat again.

Based on this phone call the Helicopter dropped a dog team onto the eastern slopes of Mt Ngauruhoe. The SAR team were soon able to establish faint voice contact. Armed with this information, the Woman was spotted from the Helicopter. She was still at 4600' on the slopes of Ngauruhoe where she had spent the night.

She had a sprained ankle but otherwise was in good condition, considering her ordeal.

She was transported to Taupo Hospital.

Philips Search and Rescue Trust is a charitable organisation, operating rescue helicopters throughout the Central North Island. Philips Search and Rescue Trust relies on support from principal sponsors and community donations. Special thanks to Taupo's principal sponsor, Greenlea. This crucial financial support ensures our rescue helicopters can continue to bring life-saving equipment, rescue personnel and trauma-trained medics directly to the patient. For further information about PSRT visit our website http://rescue.org.nz.

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