In her father’s FOOTSTEPS

There was a whiteout on the glacier. A party of eight skiers turned up at Tasman Saddle Hut wanting to stay the night because they couldn’t find their camp, 45 minutes away. They had no food, no sleeping bags, and the hut was already overflowing.

Fortunately, a guide at the hut was able to help the skiers back to their camp.

“He had the skills and knowledge to do this,” says Alpine Recreation’s Elke Braun-Elwert. “He could navigate in the white-out, he knew the avalanche risk was low and he knew the crevasses were filled in. Whereas that lost group had only the skills to go ski touring and were unable to navigate their way on a glacier once they lost visibility.”

This is an example of why Braun-Elwert wishes more New Zealanders would consider hiring a guide, in particular those new to mountain activities.

“They might not have a good understanding