Trampers should carry personal locator beacons in the backcountry and not hesitate to use them when a life is at risk.

That’s the recommendation from Coroner Meenal Duggal, who found Golden Bay woman Tracey Alison Smith died of
hypothermia while tramping in Nelson Lakes National Park with her teenage son on Queen’s Birthday weekend, 2019.

The pair, who did not have a PLB, were approaching Robert Ridge when Smith became hypothermic and unresponsive, RNZ reports.

Her son was able to carry on to Angelus Hut, but a search for Smith was not possible due to adverse weather.

Trampers at the hut discussed activating their PLBs at the request of the volunteer hut warden but chose not to, believing that Smith had already died and initiating a search would put emergency personnel at risk given the inclement weather.

DOC Nelson Lakes operations manager John Wotherspoon told RNZ the department had revised hut warden training following Smith’s death.

The training ensured hut wardens understood the required response to an emergency. They could use the hut radio to make a 111 call or activate their DOC-issued PLB.

Signs had been put up on all routes into Angelus Hut to prompt trampers to think about their safety.

“There’s any number of beautiful pictures on Instagram and social media that make it look like a place worth visiting, but it’s beyond the capability of some who go,” said Wotherspoon.