Nine inexperienced young trampers were lucky to have been rescued so quickly after venturing ill-prepared into the Silver Peaks on Friday despite a weather forecast of snow, police say.
The group were soaked through and so cold when a police land search and rescue team reached them about 1am on Saturday, rescuers had to "prise their hands open and help them lace their boots", incident controller Constable Don Peat said yesterday.
"I have no doubt if we hadn't located them until the morning we would have been dealing with some very sick people or bodies."
He said inexperienced trampers underestimated how quickly weather conditions could change in the Silver Peaks, and how cold it could get.
About 20 years ago, he was involved in the search for four teenagers in the same area who were all found dead.
The latest trampers were all international students studying at the University of Otago, believed to be in their 20s.
Eight were Americans and one was Irish.
Five were taken to Dunedin Hospital suffering from hypothermia and later discharged, Const Peat said.
One of the five, a woman, was also treated for a hand injury after a fall on Friday.
The group was heading for the Jubilee hut.
They missed the trail, realised it was getting dark and turned back towards their vehicles but remained lost, Const Peat said.
Police were contacted by cellphone about 8pm, by which time snow was falling.
Rescuers had been preparing to stay with the group overnight and walk out with them in the morning, but Const Peat said a lucky break in the weather meant a helicopter was able to land a four-person rescue team within walking distance of the group, then make two trips to ferry everyone to safety.
Two other rescue teams driving in from the Hindon and Waitati sides of the Silver Peaks were stood down.
While the trampers had sleeping bags and torches with them, they were not adequately clothed for the freezing winds prevalent on the exposed ridges, or for snow, Const Peat said.
"They were not experienced trampers. They had no idea of the track or the terrain and no GPS or compass, only a map. They weren't prepared in case they had to spend a night in the open. And we found out they didn't leave for the hut until 2.30pm, which was far too late in the day."
Asked what police had said to them, Const Peat said they had been given "a fatherly talk" which had been understood.
"They were absolutely grateful to be rescued. When we were talking to them as the helicopter was approaching we could hear them screaming and yahooing, 'We can see you, we can see you'."
He estimated the rescue might have cost $20,000 and said the group would probably not be asked to contribute to the cost.
Asked if they should, he replied: "I haven't thought about it. I just get out there and rescue people."
Police did not have contact information for members of the group.
