Wakatipu Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) volunteer search adviser Russell Carr's experience in searching for missing people spans 32 years.
"People often ask me if I get a kick out of it - if it is exciting - but it's quite the opposite. The onus is on me. It is a lot of responsibility put on me to initiate the next step. You don't do it because you get a kick out of it. I wouldn't say it's enjoyable, but it is rewarding," he said.
"The reward searchers get is the relief. The look of relief on people's faces when they are found - the joy. To be able to say 'We're here' to people who were lost."
Mr Carr was awarded a QSM for services to search and rescue in 2002.
He is one of about 50 volunteers who give up their time to help search for missing people in the Wakatipu area.
He can be called out any time of the day or night.
"It's not uncommon to get two callouts in one day, and I've had three in one day," he said.
As a member of the Wakatipu LandSAR committee and search adviser to the New Zealand Police, he is among the first people called when a person has been reported missing in wilderness areas.
"The police call me if they need outdoors expertise or the search is going to be bigger than they can handle. I go into the station and go through what is needed, how many people, what access to the area is like."
The first step is usually to fly by helicopter with police, ambulance and alpine cliff-rescue staff over the search area.
"When you search the track and off the track and when you don't find the person that's when my heart sinks. I think 'Oh no'. Then we go back to the station and call out the troops," he said.
A search which has stayed in his mind was the one for Amber-Lee Cruickshank, who vanished from Kingston on October 17, 1992, aged 2.
"Every time I drive by Kingston her name comes into my mind. We never found her. It does affect you when you think about it. You never get used to it," he said.
Recovering bodies is always hard, but it often gives closure to the families.
"Because you see things like that you can't help but think `What if?' But, luckily, most of the time, it's a happy ending."
He gets frustrated with people who go into the wilderness with inadequate skills or safety equipment, including emergency beacons, and with those who forget to sign out after leaving intention forms with the Department of Conservation.
His work as a heli-ski guide with Harris Mountains Heliski and as a team leader for avalanche rescue has helped him gain valuable skills to help in his volunteer work.
"I've always been a mountain user - tramping, skiing, hunting, fishing - I love the outdoors and this is some way I can give back. I have always been of the opinion that if anything happened to me I would be confident that I would be rescued by like-minded people."
"It's a gentlemen's agreement that outdoors people have. I know people would come looking for me, so I want to do the same. It's not a club. It's a group of like-minded outdoors people that care for other people."
Although he co-ordinated searches and advised the police on how to search for missing people, he said searching was not a "one-man show".
He says each member of the Wakatipu LandSAR group has specialist skills and gives freely of their time and skills to help others.
"It takes a tremendous commitment from the local volunteers. They give up their time and gain more expertise by going unpaid to courses."
Anyone wanting to volunteer for LandSAR needs to be physically fit. Application forms are at http://wakatipusar.co.nz/index.php/page/joinus
• If you know of anyone who volunteers around Wakatipu, contact us at queenstown@queenstowntimes.co.nz
