Avalanche - Queenstown

At about 3:50pm on Sunday August 17, 2008 an avalanche occurred at Temple Peak, which is a part of the Richardson Mountain range and lies approximately 50km North West of Queenstown.

A party of Heli-skiers and a guide were on the Peak at the time of the avalanche and a member of the party was buried under approximately 2 metres of snow.

The man, aged in his mid-thirties, was pulled from the snow, by the other members of the party, after a period of some minutes and was taken to Lakes District Hospital at Queenstown with suspected Hypothermia.

Low Cloud hampered the initial evacuation from the Mountain however all members of the group were airlifted safely from the peak.

The injured skier, from Christchurch, is believed to have been on holiday in the Queenstown region. It is not known whether he is an experienced skier.

The man was transported from the Mountain by Helicopter to Glenorchy, where he was transferred to a second Helicopter, with an Emergency Medical Team onboard and taken to Hospital, where his condition was reported to be satisfactory.

It is not known at this time if there is any danger of further avalanches in the Temple Peak area.
O.S.H. has been advised of the incident.