Turoa patroller in Mt Cook avalanche

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 649, 13 August 1996, Page 10

Turoa patroller in Mt Cook avalanche

Local ski mountaineer and Turoa ski patroller Mark Sedon nearly lost his life on a ski touring trip in the Mt Cook National Park last week. Mark was skiing a steep 45° slope off a peak called Mt Green when he set off a large (class 3) slab avalanche, 6080m wide and 0.5- 1 metre deep. It swept him down 1 00m and into a large 20-30m deep crevasse. Amazingly, he was thrown onto a small snow bridge 10m below the surface and buried lm down and upside down. Mark was able to chew the snow jammed in his mouth and thrashed his head back and forth to create a small air pocket, enabling him to breath temporarily. He then realised that his right leg was free from the snow so he dug a hole, undid his pack and wiggled his way out. In the meantime his climbing partner Kane Henderson, a ski technician from Fully Turoa, had set up an anchor and was repelling down into the crevasse, shovel and avalanche

transceiver in-hand to start the search for Mark. Five minutes after the avalanche started Mark was on the surface and yelled to Kane that all was okay. His hat, goggles, sunglasses and gloves were ripped from Mark but he was able to relocate his skis and poles. Kane helped the injured Mark ski and climb four hours to the safety of a hut for a day's rest, then they skied and walked another nine hours down to Mt Cook Village. The next day they headed to Christchurch to see a doctor and get an x-ray, where a hairline fracture was discovered in his lower back. Mark considers himself lucky to be alive and is now resting his back and badly bruised elbow and leg. Editor's note: Mark Sedon is the same person (ninelived cat?) whose close eye-witness report of the September 1995 eruption of Ruapehu appeared in the Bulletin last year.