NZ Alpine Team climber critically injured after fall
A climber critically injured in a fall in Mid Canterbury is a member of an elite New Zealand climbing team that has lost four climbers in as many years.
Caleb Jennings, a member of elite climbing group the New Zealand Alpine Team (NZAT), was seriously injured while climbing near Mt Harper, in
Mid Canterbury on Monday.
The Press understands Jennings was on a personal climbing trip with a friend at the time of the accident.
NZAT member Ben Dare said the accident was tough for members of the group to deal with. ‘‘It’s obviously very hard. We’ve had a close friend whose been in a serious accident and irrespective of what scenario you’re in it’s a tough time.
‘‘We’re just trying to be supportive of his family and friends in particular and also the other team members.’’
Jennings is an experienced climber who is training to become a mountain guide in New Zealand and is instructing and guiding part time for the NZ military.
A New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) spokeswoman said Jennings served fulltime in the NZDF from 2005 until 2014, attaining the rank of Lance Corporal. He left the regular force in 2014 and transferred to the army reserve force with a goal to train as a mountain guide.
‘‘The climbing accident was not related to his reserve service nor was it a military activity. The NZDF’s thoughts are with Caleb and his family at this time.’’
The NZAT has come under fire in recent years after four members were killed within four years.
Ari Kingan, 21, died after losing his footing on a descent of Mt Aspiring in 2014, and mentor Jamie Vinton-Boot, 30, was killed in an avalanche in the Remarkables the year before. Conor Smith, 22, and Sarwan Chand, 27, died while climbing the south face of Marian Peak in the Darran Mountains in April 2017. None of the deaths happened on official NZAT trips.
The deaths prompted former team members and other climbers to voice concerns about a culture that pushed young climbers too far, too quickly. Soon after, the Expedition Climbers Club, of which the NZAT is an initiative, announced a review into Smith and Chand’s deaths.
The review was finished earlier this year. The NZAT told The Press it planned to publish the document on its website, but never did.
Dare said the NZAT was still working through the findings.
‘‘We publicly acknowledged that we as a team accept the findings and recommendations of that report and are working through them. What we can’t do is release the specifics of them due to the requests of the family.’’