Be sensible out there!

[GravelBen]

A(nother) bunch of muppets have got their 4wds stuck in a bad situation down here due to not respecting the weather and conditions...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/80264691/weather-h...

Good reminder not to turn your brain off when deciding to go off road, especially in the high country.

[normalbloke]

My chum took the footage of this and has offered to fly people out to collect more kit,as it looks like the vehicles will be there until the spring. It seems they suffered a couple of breakdowns in the group, so it 'may' not be a total 'brain off/muppetry' excercise as you suggest, or is this a regular occurrence on this road?

[GravelBen]

normalbloke said:

My chum took the footage of this and has offered to fly people out to collect more kit,as it looks like the vehicles will be there until the spring. It seems they suffered a couple of breakdowns in the group, so it 'may' not be a total 'brain off/muppetry' excercise as you suggest, or is this a regular occurrence on this road?

Its a very demanding 4wd route at fairly high altitude which is always closed over winter, people often get stuck and need recovering even in summer and a number of people have died up there in the past. Its very much a summer only route - that range is fairly well known for poor visibility, snow and bogs.

They chose to go up there with heavy rain and snow forecast (on top of the snow already on the ground), 2 weeks before it closes for winter. Most locals who know the road and the area agree that it was a pretty stupid decision.

Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 24th May 11:24