Mount Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters is helping remove more than five tonnes of rubbish from Haupapa Tasman Glacier. This is New Zealand’s largest glacier and the one most frequently visited by climbers, skiers and tourists. 

The company applied for an Environment Heritage Lottery Grant for the clean-up work, which began with the dismantling of an old snow groomer trapped on the glacier that was visible to visitors.

It had been left there by a previous operator in the early 1980s and eventually collapsed into five metres of snow and became encased. Gutsell and his team deconstructed it into smaller pieces, and each helicopter load shifted as much as 900kg. 

“Project Haupapa isn’t limited to any specific area, although we are starting with our home turf first,” Gutsell said. “The rubbish we are removing has been known about and visible for a long time.”