Eighteen hikers in two different groups, including three children, have left Tasmania Police ‘stunned’ after they had to be rescued in extreme conditions from the top of a mountain.
Temperatures dropped to a low of -3 degrees at Kunanyi/Mt Wellington in Hobart on Monday night, with wind chill and heavy snowfall resulting in a wind chill of -21.6°C.
The brutal weather forecast didn’t deter a group of 13 hikers from heading up the mountain, but left them desperately calling for help at 4:15 p.m. when the weather took a turn for the worse.
The hikers had mobile phones but “minimal food and water and no equipment to survive the night in case of emergency,” police said.
“Frankly, I’m surprised that anyone would think it’s OK to go for a walk in the mountains on a day like yesterday,” Tasmania police Detective Inspector Kathy Bennett told the ABC. Radio Hobartand added that they had potentially put other people’s lives at risk.
Police, working with Hobart city authorities, drove through the snow up the mountain in 4×4 vehicles behind a tractor with a snow plough.
Hobart Mayor Anna Reynolds said the walkers were found sheltering on the viewing platform at the top of the mountain, 1,271 metres high.
Surprisingly, the group of 13 were not the only ones who were careless when deciding when to go for a walk in the woods.
Thirteen hikers, including three children, have left Tasmania Police ‘stunned’ after they had to be rescued in extreme conditions (pictured) from the top of a mountain.
Temperatures dropped to a low of -3 degrees at Kunanyi/Mt Wellington (pictured) on Monday night, with wind chill and heavy snowfall resulting in a wind chill of -21.6°C.
As council workers climbed the mountain, they encountered another group of five walkers attempting to descend to the 1,110m level, Reynolds said.
That group, which had not called for help, had to be rescued first, while the larger group waited higher up.
“They were very lucky that our staff happened to be there and they were on the road,” he said.
Ms Reynolds said three of them were “very unwell” and the group of five were taken down to warm up.
Police said everyone from both groups had safely made it down the mountain by 10:30 p.m. Monday night.
A furious Inspector Bennet said the two groups had “potentially put other lives at risk because we had our search and rescue people in New Norfolk, with the anticipated problems we had there (for flood response)… and we would have to think about redeploying resources to get people in.”
“If the road is closed, don’t walk there, it’s that simple. Snow and low clouds are not good conditions for walking, especially when you have three kids involved in the hike.”
Premier Jeremy Rockliff was also outraged, saying what the walkers did was “just ridiculous”.
“We cannot afford to divert resources simply because of the stupidity of people who ignore these warnings,” he said.
“Fortunately, the local government supported that rescue when our SES staff and others were supporting other communities.”
The hikers had mobile phones but “minimal food and water, and no equipment to survive the night in case of emergency,” police said.
Tasmania Police Inspector Kathy Bennett said: “Frankly, I’m just flabbergasted that anyone would think it’s OK to go for a walk in the mountains on a day like yesterday.”
Police Inspector Darren Latham said it was very frustrating that police had to regularly warn hikers on the mountain, especially during severe weather.
‘The Bureau of Meteorology, SES and Tasmania Police have been issuing warnings to the community about the severe weather event since last week.
“This included several weather alerts for those hiking in the countryside,” he said.
‘Hikers should always prepare for the worst.
‘Our emergency services personnel often put their own lives at risk during rescues, so it is frustrating when the situation could have been avoided.’