Groomers for S&R

Ruapehu Bulletin, 7 September 1990, Page 8

Groomers for S&R

From page 5 because they are restricted to the skifield boundaries. Mr Montgomery said during the Army search and rescue operation a groomer took four hours to get to the crater, while the first familiarisation trip took just 15 minutes to reach the crater from the top of the West Ridge T Bar. On the trip they took compass bearings and noted map grid references of terrain features, to aid navigation in poor visibility, up a set route to the crater. The route surveyed from the Whakapapa side is in two basic legs, one following a gully and the second following a

compass bearing. "If we know the general direction the cats have to travel in to get to the Crater we're halfway there to finding the way to the Crater rim," said Mr Montgomery. "It won't be a perfect system but will be a hell of a lot better than during the search for the soldiers." Ohakune DoC staff and Turoa cat drivers will go through the same procedure on the Turoa side. In future cat drivers will travel to the crater area when necessary through the winter, to get used to changes in the terrain after snow storms.

Such trips will be under controlled situations with DoC staff present. Mr Montgomery said normally machinery is not allowed above the skifields because it is a designated pristine area, but from now the groomers will be treated in a similar way to helicopters as far as search and rescue is concemed. During the recent search the use of a satellite navigation system was considered but was discounted because a 20 metre margin of error could have put the cats over bluffs because the drivers were not familiar with the terrain. He said such systems could well be a possibility in future. .