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- [00:01]
John Hopkins
Put us in a box.
- [00:04]
Paul Rogers
Go ahead.
- [00:05]
John Hopkins
That just gives us something to break out of because the next generation 2025 GMC terrain elevation is raising the standard of what comes standard as far as expectations go, why meet them when you can shatter them? What we choose to challenge, we challenge completely. We are professional grade. Visit gmc.com to learn more. It's late morning on Friday, September 1, 1989. The sky is an endless stretch of blue over New Zealand's Mount Cook National Park. Sunlight dances on the towering peaks below. Forbes Glacier glistens like a frozen river, its glassy surface sparkling. Paul Rogers and Marty Sinclair are almost at the top of the glacier. The seasoned climbers are keeping a steady pace, their crampons crunching into the ice. With practiced ease, the ascent is exhilarating. They snake their way upwards and take in a breathtaking expanse around them. The snow topped summits above the sprawling mass of greenery far below. The air is crisp, rejuvenating. Soon the incline steepens. A sudden gust of wind, the first they felt all morning, kicks up loose snow, sending it swirling in a fine mist. Ahead their goal looms Separation Col, a narrow passage wedged between two peaks, the gateway to the south face of Mount Dashiak. Paul's calves and hamstrings throb as the gale strengthens. The higher they climb, the thicker the snow. Powdery flakes whip into his face. Time and again he wipes them away before trudging on until one particular step brings with it a disturbing sound.
- [02:27]
Paul Rogers
Just shy of separation coal. All of a sudden we hear a big woomph. At a big crack.
- [02:37]
John Hopkins
The ground suddenly shifts like a quicksand. The world tillers. They scramble, desperate for purchase. There's nothing to hold onto.
- [02:49]
Paul Rogers
The whole slope pulls out underneath us. It's just one big slab of snow, tons and tons of in weight. We're on the top of this snow slope and we're going for a ride. It's a bit like snakes and ladders, really. We've gone up the ladder nice and slowly and now this avalanche is going to take us for a ride.
- [03:10]
John Hopkins
Paul's instincts kick in. His fingers dart to the buckle of his backpack, fumbling, slipping, before managing to unclip it in one swift motion, he shrugs it off and casts it aside. He yells at Marty to do the same, his voice lost in the melee. Before he can turn to see if his friend has heard another gut wrenching crack. Echoes around the mountain. Fractures appear as the snow beneath them shifts again. In an instant, it seems like the very mountainside is crumbling.
- [03:45]
Paul Rogers
We went over a dip and then all of a sudden I'm completely engulfed in powder snow and we disappear into the avalanche. I'm sort of drifting into this unknown, really.
- [04:03]
John Hopkins
Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Paul Rogers. In 1989, high in New Zealand's Southern Alps, a huge shift on the surface of Forbes Glacier sends the 25 year old and his climbing partner hurtling down the slope at breakneck speed. With no time to react, Paul is thrown into a deep crevasse, vanishing into the ice.
- [04:48]
Paul Rogers
It was like a trapdoor on a stage just opening up and like an actor disappearing off the stage and the audience are like, well, where did he go?
- [05:00]
John Hopkins
The terrifying incident will have tragic consequences. Paul will find himself injured without equipment and with no idea what's happened to Marty. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, they do.
- [05:15]
Paul Rogers
I can hear this horrendous sound of. I can hear the crevasse behind me filling up with snow.
- [05:23]
John Hopkins
I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is his real survival stories. It's Thursday, August 31, 1989. The sun begins its slow descent, casting long shadows across the mountains of Mount Cook national park, near the heart of New Zealand's South Island. Paul Rogers and Marty Sinclair crest a hill, their boots crunching over scree before they catch sight of their accommodation for the night. Forbes Bivvy is a small, unassuming hut. It's perched on a rocky outcrop in the heart of Te Kahui Kopeka Conservation Park. With its lack of a flushable toilet or running water, it's not exactly the Ritz. But it has two bunks, a roof overhead, and is the perfect launchpad for tomorrow's climb. After trekking 26km, it's everything the two men need. They pause at the door, taking in the vista. Golden tussock carpets the foothills far below. Meandering braided rivers catch the sun's dying ember, the waters flashing silver and gold beyond. Towering peaks loom on the horizon, their jagged silhouettes slicing through the blood red sky. And there, just about visible beneath a wisp of cloud, is their ultimate goal, the summit of Mount Darciak. It's a world away, literally and metaphorically, from the streets of London where Paul grew up. Not that he stayed there for Too long. Ever since he was a teenager, adventurers always been in his blood.
- [07:45]
Paul Rogers
I decided my first big adventure overseas was to go to California and go skateboarding. I was 17 at the time and I just got on a Freddie Laker sky train which was the cattle class flights to America in those days. I met some coal miners from Sheffield on the plane and they were dressed as skateboarders. I guess most people don't associate coal miners from Sheffield and skateboarding, but they were just as passionate as I was. And although we needed subtitles to understand each other's accents, we had a great time skateboarding together.
- [08:18]
John Hopkins
After six sun kissed weeks in California, Paul returned to Britain now forever driven by a desire to travel and explore. Back in London, he met youth worker Peter Thorpe. The two bonded quickly. Through Peter, Paul was first introduced to climbing and trekking in the great outdoors. It left an indelible mark on the teenager.
- [08:42]
Paul Rogers
I maintain contact with Peter and I'd go along and help out some of his weekend trips. And then he invited me on a five day climbing course in the West Country. Yeah. So that contact with the youth worker was key for me.
- [08:58]
John Hopkins
These bucolic weekend getaways were exciting and refreshing for a young Paul. But back in the city, things weren't quite so pure or simple. In the spring of 1981, racial tensions in Brixton, South London erupted into violent clashes between police and locals. Paul was on the ground during the riots.
- [09:24]
Paul Rogers
I was a keen photographer. I ended up doing a sort of photographic montage collaboration based on the Brixton street riots. It was pretty full on.
- [09:34]
John Hopkins
During the frenzy there were altercations with officers, extensive damage and some close shaves. The incident ultimately led Paul towards some self reflection.
- [09:45]
Paul Rogers
One of my mates was a bit of an idiot really. Threw a rock at a, at a window to try and smash it, you know, it was a copycat thing. I can't remember nearly getting my head taken off when the police did a baton charge down the Woolworth Road. I managed to leg it and get away. So, you know, obviously I had an eye for a sort of adventure, a misadventure and bit of risk management and I needed to channel it somewhere better.
- [10:11]
John Hopkins
Not long after, an opportunity arose to leave London behind. With nothing but a pushbike, a backpack and some photography equipment, Paul boarded a train bound for Penzance in Cornwall on England's southwest coast. From there he cycled to Land's End where he worked in an outdoor center. A job that not only paid the bills but allowed him to develop his climbing skills. Every spare penny he earned went towards this passion. Trips to Scotland and the Alps followed, where he pushed himself to the limits on challenging rock faces and icy slopes. It was there, amid Europe's towering peaks, that he had his first brush with death.
- [10:55]
Paul Rogers
On my second trip to the European Alps, we got caught in a really big storm in a mountain called the Petit. Drew wasn't my climbing partner, but it was someone in my proximity that was killed outright by rockfall. Yeah, that was a really close call for me. I survived by diving into a crevice to get out of the way of the rock form. And this person was killed outright right next to me.
- [11:23]
John Hopkins
It was a harrowing, sobering episode. But moving forward, he tried to learn from it. Climbing's many hazards are clear, but for Paul, the positives still outweighed the dangers. It's not just about reaching the summit, it's about forging unbreakable bonds with people and experiencing the world's most beautiful places from a unique perspective.
- [11:50]
Paul Rogers
My youth worker told me about this thing called Operation Rally and they run these sort of adventures all over the world. People from different countries would all converge into places like Chile, New Zealand, parts of Africa.
- [12:04]
John Hopkins
Of all these exotic places, it was New Zealand that really captured the imagination. What was meant to be three months in the country stretched to five. Paul made friends. He fell in love with the mountains. Drawn in by the endless climbing opportunities, staying in New Zealand felt like the obvious choice, a no brainer. In 1988, he met a fellow mountaineering enthusiast, Marty Sinclair.
- [12:31]
Paul Rogers
He was an all rounder. He was a windsurfer, a kayaker, a caver and a mountaineer and a rock climber and he was fast. Fast and very fit. Yeah, we worked together on a 10 day mountaineering course in Arthur's Pass national park and we got on really well and we sort of said to each other that, you know, maybe we should go off and do a climb sometime together for ourselves.
- [13:00]
John Hopkins
By August 1989, a plan is in motion. Fresh from a grueling climb in Pakistan, Paul is ready for his next challenge. Mount Dashiaq. Nearly 3,000 meters of unforgiving terrain. And if that isn't ambitious enough, the pair want to scale the mountains south face, something that's never been done before. While both are enthusiastic about the task, there is some disagreement as to the best way to approach the climb. Paul favors a more gradual approach to the base of the south face, whereas Marty wants to tackle the Forbes Glacier on the way, making the trek to the mountain nearly as challenging as the climb itself. After some discussion, Marty Marty's plan wins out. He knows the area better than Paul. Having windsurfed on the lakes nearby, we.
- [13:54]
Paul Rogers
Were gonna climb up the Forbes Glacier to Separation Cold and that will be our first objective, which for me wasn't ideal. It was decided that Marty would look after the approach and I would deal with the technical climbing on the south face, which is a fair sweet.
- [14:18]
John Hopkins
I.
- [14:18]
Paul Rogers
Think you're on mute Workday starting to sound the same. I think you're on mute.
- [14:23]
John Hopkins
Find something that sounds better for your.
- [14:25]
Paul Rogers
Career on LinkedIn with LinkedIn job collections, you can browse curated collections by relevant.
- [14:32]
John Hopkins
Industries and benefits like Flexpto or Hybrid Workplaces so you can find the right job for you. Get started@LinkedIn.com jobs finding where you fit LinkedIn knows how this episode is brought to you by State Farm Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want is a great feeling. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer, availability, amount of discounts and savings and and eligibility vary by state. After parking at Erawan station, a sprawling 35,000 acre farm in the Southern Alps, Paul and Marty shoulder their packs and set off. The day progresses well. They keep a steady pace, pausing occasionally to nibble on their sandwiches and take a glug of water. Dense beech forest slowly thins, giving way to rolling golden grasslands. Rivers thread through the landscape, glinting in the daylight, natural wayfinders leading them onwards.
- [15:54]
Paul Rogers
We went up the Rangitata river for a number of kilometers and you're just bashing up this sort of bouldery riverbed and sometimes you're having to cross and recross the same river, you know, several times, so you get your feet wet. So it took us the whole day to get into Forbes Bivvy.
- [16:11]
John Hopkins
The Forbes Bivvy A simple white hut is a welcome sight after their trek. The cabin is the only structure for miles, a tiny speck in the enormity of nature. After a final moment absorbing the green and white landscape, Paul and Marty step inside and start unpacking. Sleeping bags are unrolled, foam mats laid out. A compact stove hisses into life as the bubbling water cooks their dehydrated meals. The hut is filled with a welcome scent of hot. After they've eaten, they methodically check their gear. Soon the floorboards are covered with ropes, ice axes, screws, helmets, head torches, and extra layers to combat the unpredictable mountain weather. They've even brought avalanche safety equipment, snow shovels and a transceiver each. After a relatively easy first day, the next leg promises to be far more demanding. A good night's sleep is what's needed. It's Friday, September 1st. The sky is dark, the moon casting its final beams on the river's shifting surface. The sun is an hour away from breaching the horizon, but Paul and Marty are already on the move. There's a lot of climbing to be done and they want every minute of daylight they can get. Their head torches scythe through the gloom flickering over the rugged terrain. The thick tussock grass becomes unstable rock strewn slopes, loose stones slipping underneath their boots. They push forward carefully, breath misting the morning air until they find themselves at the edge of Forbes Glacier. It's a vast sheet of ice stretching towards Separation Cole and beyond it, the imposing south face of Mount Dashiak. The rising sun stains the icy surface red and pink. The men kneel to strap crampons to the soles of their boots. The metal spikes will give them the grip they need on the slippery arm ice. But after a few first cautious steps onto the glacier, annoying doubt creeps in.
- [18:47]
Paul Rogers
We're going up onto the snow slopes and I'm starting to get a feel for how big a day we're looking at. And I'm starting to sort of calculate whether I want to get onto such a committing climb that I can't even see yet with the amount of daylight hours and time that we have.
- [19:08]
John Hopkins
Paul keeps these feelings to himself and pushes on. He and Marty progress up the frozen slopes, moving in a practiced rhythm. They take turns leading, setting the pace, boots carving a zigzag formation across the ice, a technique that, that conserves energy and reduces the risk of falling. At one point, a hiccup, a sharp snap echoes in the still air. Looking down, Paul notices that the heel clip of his crampon is broken. The metal spikes flapping uselessly against the ice.
- [19:52]
Paul Rogers
Obviously crampons is a really important piece of equipment. You don't really want to be taking on such an undertaking if your equipment's, you know, not up to it. It was a decent piece of equipment failure really. So at that point I said to Marty, I said, oh well, that's it, let's just turn around here, we'll call it quits.
- [20:12]
John Hopkins
But as Marty digs through his pack, he finds what they need. A repair kit. With a pair of pliers and a length of wire, he manages to refasten the Crampon to Paul's boot. It's sturdy enough. The mission is back on. In theory, anyway.
- [20:33]
Paul Rogers
You don't really want to take on a major ice climb with equipment that you've sort of rigged to be able to use it. So I. I felt we should turn around. Marty was keen to carry on. I think he acknowledged the fact that time possibly might not be on our side, but he wanted to get to Separation Cole.
- [20:52]
John Hopkins
The guys agree that climbing the south face is now no longer a possibility. But if they press on to Separation Col, the point at the top of the glacier, then they will at least be able to properly observe Mount d' Artiak. It'd be a shame to come this far and not at least have a proper look. Paul nods his agreement and they set off again. The fix on the crampon seems to have worked and the pair are soon once more in their rhythm. The glacier steepens. There's a thick layer of snow here, so each step is a struggle and a hazard. The wind near the summit of Forbes Glacier is howling, ripping up flurries and dumping them on Paul and Marty as they make their approach. The shifting drifts are an unpredictable challenge, but nothing they haven't seen before. And what's more, Separation Cold is now within touching distance. Nearly there. Side by side now, they forge ahead until a sinister grumble within the ice stops them in their tracks.
- [22:09]
Paul Rogers
Just shy of Separation Cold, all of a sudden, we hear a big whoomph and her big crack. The whole slope pulls out underneath us. It's just one big slab of snow, tons and tons of in weight. We're on the top of this snow slope and we're going for a ride. It's a bit like snakes and ladders, really. We've gone up the ladder nice and slowly and now this avalanche is going to take us for a ride.
- [22:37]
John Hopkins
Paul and Marty have unearthed a wind slab formed when the wind sweeps loose snow across the mountain and packs it into dense layers. A wind slab can appear deceptively solid, yet remains dangerously unstable. Given enough time, these layers can settle and bond with the surface below, eventually becoming part of the glacier itself. This one, it seems, has not had time to set wind slabs.
- [23:06]
Paul Rogers
A bit like rockfall, it's a kind of constant thing you have to be managing or be aware of. But for us that day, we obviously didn't do enough of that. We weren't thinking on our feet enough as climbers. Our body weight was actually what brought that. When slabbed down.
- [23:24]
John Hopkins
The shifting wind slab sweeps the men away. Paul and Marty are no longer climbers. They are passengers, hurtling down the glacier on a vast field of ice roughly the size of half a football pitch. They fight to break free, launching themselves in desperate, jolting jumps, trying to get out of the avalanche's path. It's no use. Instinctively, Paul reaches for the buckle of his backpack, unclips it and lets it slip loose from his shoulders. He yells at Marty to do the same. But it's impossible to know what's happening in the cold and the chaos.
- [24:07]
Paul Rogers
All of a sudden. If you could just imagine, like crazy paving, just kind of cracks occurring all around us. We're starting to gain speed now, it would be fair to say it felt like a magic carpet to start with. And then it just started breaking up around us.
- [24:25]
John Hopkins
A sudden dip in the glacier's surface breaks the wind slab completely. In an instant, it shatters, fracturing like glass. A deafening roar fills the air as Paul and Marty are swallowed whole, buffeted by tons of cascading ice and snow.
- [24:46]
Paul Rogers
I've lost sight of Marty and I'm saying, okay, this is it. No one's going to find us. You know, we're both in the avalanche, which means our ability to self rescue or be rescued by our partner is looking really doubtful. You just get these little moments, little sort of sparks that go off in your, in your mind about something you wanted to say to somebody or something you regretted or something that you hadn't addressed. And so I just had these little moments, tiny little moments, I guess. All part of the sort of regret and coming to terms with the fact that this might be it this time.
- [25:31]
John Hopkins
Paul falls, a snowy deluge engulfing him, the world a white blur. Then, without warning, there's a shuddering impact. He's thrown face first into a wall of ice.
- [25:48]
Paul Rogers
It was a bit like getting hit with a wet dishcloth, but the only thing is that this dishcloth is frozen solid.
- [25:56]
John Hopkins
Before the pain has time to register, his body lurches again. Now he's falling through nothingness, through a gaping chasm right in the heart of the Forbes glacier.
- [26:08]
Paul Rogers
What effectively happened, if you can imagine, it was like a trap door on a stage just opening up and like an actor disappearing off the stage. And the audience are like, well, where did he go?
- [26:22]
John Hopkins
He plummets 10 meters, landing hard on his feet on a ledge inside a crevasse. The force sends him sprawling forward. He does what he can to react.
- [26:34]
Paul Rogers
I'm completely stunned. Nothing I've done since taking my backpack off is deliberate or a reflex to my situation. I'M completely at the mercy of the forces of nature and so best described as a parachute roll. You know when you you kind of land and then you kind of tuck and try and take the energy out of the impact with your knees as a shock absorber and you roll forward. So now I'm going head first down into this cavern, into the bowers of the glacier.
- [27:10]
John Hopkins
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- [27:31]
Paul Rogers
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- [28:08]
John Hopkins
Paul finally comes to a halt. All around him, an eerie neon blue glow emanates from the glassy walls of the crevasse. For a moment he lies there, dazed, trying to make sense of the madness of the last few seconds while struggling to steady his ragged breathing. Eventually, he slowly pushes himself upright. His heart is hammering, he's missing a tooth, and a deep ache in his ribs tells him he's hurt. Something could be broken. He can't be sure, but against all odds, he is alive. Paul takes slow, deliberate breaths, trying to get a handle on his racing pulse. He glances around. There's nothing. No sign of Marty. But before he has time to start his search, a chilling sound tears through the silence.
- [29:13]
Paul Rogers
I can hear this horrendous sound of I can hear the crevasse behind me filling up with snow.
- [29:21]
John Hopkins
Powder tumbles down from above. In mere seconds he will be trapped, buried in an icy tomb. But mercifully, Paul's parachute roll forwards when he landed has meant he has ended up in a small cavern away from the direct path of the falling snow. Eventually it slows, then stops. Snow now carpets the inside of the crevasse, but not enough to fill it up or block his escape. Above him, through the crack he's just fallen through, he can see a thin sliver of blue sky. The relief is fleeting. More snow could tumble in at any moment. He needs to get out while he still can. But how? With what? His pack is gone, lost somewhere on or in the the glacier. Without it, he has no ropes, no ice hammer. His crampons are still attached to his feet. Marty's handiwork has even managed to keep the faulty one attached. That's something. Paul strides down the length of the crevasse around 40 meters, his boots crunching softly on the fresh powder. Still no sign of Marty anywhere. He assesses the crevasse's edges, judging which spot will give him the best chance of escape.
- [30:53]
Paul Rogers
I walked along the bottom of the crevasse until the crevasse started to narrow. And crevasses do that. One part of the crevasse might be wide open and slowly but surely they'll close up. And it's all to do with the the way the glacier, which is a kind of elastic living river of ice, moves over the landscape. And sometimes the crevasses open up and in other times in the compression zones they close up. And so I just walked along the bottom of the crevasse until it narrowed.
- [31:25]
John Hopkins
Enough at the narrowest parts. Paul raises his right foot and drives the front point of his crampon into the ice face. Then he does the same with his left. His fingers slide over the slippery wall, searching for any purchase he can find. Drawing on skills honed through countless self rescue drills, Paul climbs the ice slowly, steadily. Each crampon kick is meticulous, each movement checked before making another. Without tools, his arms quiver and burn as he shimmies up before at last he manages to pull himself over the lip of the crevasse. He is out. Taking a beat, he scans around back above ground. It's like a scene from a disaster movie. Debris from the avalanche litters the mountainside. Snow is piled high along the edge of the crevasse, with tons more covering the foot of the glacier below. If he hadn't fallen through the crevasse, he'd likely have been consumed by the avalanche, crushed and suffocated under its immense weight.
- [32:50]
Paul Rogers
Fortunately, I'd fallen out of the bottom of the avalanche into the crevasse. And so it was interesting. The crevasse saved my life, but it didn't feel like it at the time.
- [33:03]
John Hopkins
Among the debris, there is a flash of red. 400 meters or so downhill. Something is partially buried in the snow, standing out against the sea of white. It could be Marty. Paul wastes no time. He breaks into a run, muscles straining as he charges towards the flash of color. When he reaches the spot, he falls to his knees and digs frantically, his hands working through the chunks of ice.
- [33:35]
Paul Rogers
I was hoping that the red pack would be my climbing partner, but the red pack turned out to be exactly that, my red pack. And so I'm on my own.
- [33:44]
John Hopkins
Still, it's a hammer blow, but at least Paul has his equipment. And one piece is particularly useful right now. The avalanche rescue beacon. The device is always on, sending out frequent signals to other beacons so that climbers can pinpoint each other's location. In theory, it's the best shot at finding Marty. Paul quickly jams the earpiece into place and flips the switch on his beacon from transmit to receive. Then he begins combing the glacier, listening intently for the telltale beep that will lead him to his partner.
- [34:26]
Paul Rogers
I'm sort of walking at a reasonable speed, zigzagging across the debris, desperately trying to pick up a signal, and I kind of get sort of an electronic background sound. I'm getting no signal at all. And I'm a bit baffled by this. And then all of a sudden it dawns on me. My partner's up in the crevasse.
- [34:50]
John Hopkins
Paul rushes to the lip of the icy chasm. He gazes down into the crevasses gloom and checks for a signal. Again, still nothing. But if there is a chance Marty's down there, he only has one choice. He has to go back in. Paul pulls his ice hammers from his pack. He secures them on the edge of the crevasse and then begins to lower himself. Now with his kit, he's able to descend quickly. Soon his boots crunch against the snow covered ground down below. He listens carefully. At first there is only silence before a signal. He moves deeper into the crevasse, following the sound. With each step, the beeps grow louder, sharper, guiding him until he's in the right spot.
- [35:48]
Paul Rogers
And I move to where the signal is the strongest. And I start digging and I'm digging as fast as I possibly can and I'm moving a lot of snow, a hell of a lot of snow. By the time I've dug down two meters, all of a sudden I get a strike and it's Marty's backpack. And so I'm digging like a lunatic. And I managed to dig the backpack out and then I get Marty's hand and then I'm digging more and I managed to get Marty's arm and finally I got Marty's head, but it was too late.
- [36:31]
John Hopkins
Marty is gone and there is nothing that can be done to help him. But in this devastating moment, there is still Duty to be done.
- [36:44]
Paul Rogers
I need to get some help. A lot of my search and rescue experience has revolved around just getting a body out so the family can grieve and they can bury their lost one. I don't even try and dig the rest of Marty out. I just try and get myself out. I'm aware that, you know, there's potential for something else to come. I'm down that slope. Another pocket of instability maybe. So I just get myself out.
- [37:12]
John Hopkins
It's a few minutes later at the top of the crevasse.
- [37:16]
Paul Rogers
Paul.
- [37:16]
John Hopkins
Paul pauses to collect himself. He stows his tools, adjusts the straps of his backpack and begins the slow descent down Forbes Glacier. The sky is darkening, the day slipping away. He takes his time planting, each step with care. Eventually, as night is truly drawing in, he spots Forbes bivvy, barely visible in the fading light. He and Marty shared a meal there less than 24 hours ago. @ the toe of the glacier. Paul removes his crampons and limps the remaining distance to the hut. There's no phone, no way of contacting the outside world. His best bet is to spend the night here to try and rest. Then. Then at first light, he can track the 26km to Mesopotamia station and alert the relevant authorities. He sets up for the night and gets into his sleeping bag.
- [38:20]
Paul Rogers
I have a really rough night. I'm just getting quite bad flashbacks to the avalanche. And then obviously, my last dealings with Marty. About two o' clock in the morning, I had a pretty, pretty nasty sort of panic attack, really. And the panic attack was based around maybe I've got it wrong, maybe he's still alive and I've just abandoned my climbing partner. And so there was all sorts of stuff playing with me at the time.
- [38:52]
John Hopkins
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- [39:06]
Paul Rogers
30 better get 30, better get 20, 20, 20 better get 20, 20 better get 15, 15, 15, 15. Just 15 bucks a month.
- [39:11]
John Hopkins
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- [39:43]
Paul Rogers
At the Home Depot.
- [39:44]
John Hopkins
Free delivery on appliance purchases of $396 or more offer valid June 18 through July 9, US only. See store or online for details. It's the next morning, Saturday, September 2nd. Paul repacks his bag and begins the long, weary hike back to civilization. Spring has truly arrived. The leaves glow a vibrant green. The river shimmers with a turquoise hue. But none of it really registers.
- [40:20]
Paul Rogers
I'm just bashing down these river flats and I'm formulating a plan. I'm quite determined about what I want to do next.
- [40:29]
John Hopkins
As he tackles the more rugged terrain, the pain in his ribs flares up, though the adrenaline keeps the worst of it at bay. It's afternoon when he spots the roof of a house poking through the trees. He has reached his destination. Mesopotamia Station, a high country farm. Alone in the wilderness, Paul hurries down the final stretch and knocks on the door of the farmhouse. An elderly woman answers. A song from a radio drifts through the opening. The woman looks at Paul expectantly. He explains that there's been an accident and asks if he can use her phone. She opens the door wide and ushers him in. Paul picks up the receiver and calls the police. He explains what's happened and asks for a helicopter pilot and two ski patrollers to meet him at Mesopotamia Station. Next, he calls a friend and asks him to go to Marty's house to support his partner. When the news breaks, with the calls made, all he can do is wait for the emergency services. But as he sets the phone down, the enormity of the situation hits him.
- [41:47]
Paul Rogers
I broke down when the old lady came along. Gave me a cup of tea and a biscuit and I had a bit of a cry. But I'd made the two really most important phone calls. It was an enormous release for me, being able to sort of mobilise the police and the climbing community.
- [42:08]
John Hopkins
It's not long until the unmistakable rhythmic thud of rotors can be heard. Paul steps outside, watching the helicopter descend, then touch down gently on the nearby farmland. He runs across to it, climbs aboard. The heavy door slams shut behind him and the blades start up again. The engine hums to life with a low whine, the noise growing as the ascent begins. The ground drops away below them. Soon the little cottage is nowhere to be seen.
- [42:42]
Paul Rogers
We Flew up to the glacier and you could see all of my activity is in footprints, really. And you could see by my footprints in the snow what was going on.
- [42:53]
John Hopkins
Hovering over the expanse of ice, Paul points out the crevasse. They'll find Marty there. With that, his part in the recovery mission ends.
- [43:06]
Paul Rogers
They flew me back down to the Forbes bivvy, and I think I hung out there with the police officer and they didn't want me to come up. Enough's enough. I've got broken ribs. I'm damaged goods and that was the beginning of me sort of handing over, if you like.
- [43:23]
John Hopkins
Eventually, a police car ferries Paul back to the city of Christchurch. While the ache in his ribs is near constant. Now they'll heal. His missing tooth will need attention, but it's not an immediate concern. There'll be time to go to hospital later. Right now, he wants to be dropped off at Marty's house. By the time he arrives, there is already a sizable gathering of his climbing partner's loved ones.
- [43:50]
Paul Rogers
In this particular social group, I was a little bit of an outsider, if you like, but I'm given some comfort. We're all sort of folding into each other like kneading dough, if you like.
- [44:04]
John Hopkins
In the weeks that follow, Paul's body mends, the pain in his torso fades and his tooth is replaced. But relatively speaking, the physical wounds are the easy part. He admits that in the months and years after the tragedy, there are times when things get really difficult between him and those who are close to Marty. Paul has to find ways to deal with that, as well as his own trauma.
- [44:31]
Paul Rogers
I think survivor's guilt would be a normal part of the process. There was a few moments that were quite hard for me, you know, but I strongly believe that I honoured my climbing partner on the day. I honoured my climbing partner's close friends, partner and associates as much as I could.
- [44:54]
John Hopkins
In the immediate aftermath, Paul moves away from recreational climbing.
- [44:59]
Paul Rogers
I focused on getting work in outdoor education. I didn't shy away from using all of the insight and knowledge that I gained from my personal experiences. That didn't always go right to help other people either, as an instructor and then training to become a mountain guide, and then building up enough experience to be considered an asset in search and rescue. They've been all part and parcel of my continued journey as a mountaineer.
- [45:36]
John Hopkins
But in time, the mountains lure him back. His experience on Forbes Glacier, though, has left a lasting impression.
- [45:46]
Paul Rogers
It'd be fair to say that PTSD makes me a difficult person to collaborate with in the mountains. You know, I don't suffer falls or poor decision making.
- [45:57]
John Hopkins
Over the next two decades, Paul travels the world as a qualified mountain guide and consultant for for search and rescue operations. But he never returns to Dasiak.
- [46:08]
Paul Rogers
I've kind of always steered clear of that particular area. It's almost a bit of a sacred site for me. The only thing I can put my survival down to is I wasn't holding onto a heavy backpack that was causing a lot of drag, and that would have meant I would have landed badly on that floor in the bottom of the crevasse and I wouldn't have been able to roll forward into that downhill kind of cavern away from where all the snow was coming in. There was a lot of luck that I made it out at all, but in this incident, ditching my backpack was the right thing to do. I've lived a pretty full life from that time. I think I'd managed to get myself back on my feet. Still like going into the mountains and I'm still putting up new climbs. I love exploring and steering young climbers now, and so I don't need to be possibly on the sharp end myself anymore. But I'm still very supportive of climbing and so, yeah, I'm glad to have made it to 62.
- [47:20]
John Hopkins
Next time on Real Survival Stories. We meet Jonathan Ritchie one day while enjoying a relaxing fishing trip in the Ivory Coast. John's boat. And life is turned upside down. He and his family have inadvertently strayed into the territory of one of the deadliest animals in Africa, a species thought to be responsible for around 500 human deaths a year. So when the young man finds himself in its lethal grasp, it seems there will be only one outcome. There's no way to escape. At that point, it was like, I'm dead. You know, there's nothing you can do about this. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen today without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus.
- [48:09]
Paul Rogers
Hey there, travelers.
- [48:10]
John Hopkins
Kaley Cuoco here.
- [48:11]
Paul Rogers
Sorry to interrupt your music, great artist.
- [48:13]
John Hopkins
BT Dubs, but wouldn't you rather be there to hear it live? With Price, you can get out of.
- [48:18]
Paul Rogers
Your dreams and into your dream concert.
- [48:20]
John Hopkins
They've got millions of travel deals to get you to that festival, gig, rave, sound bath or sonic experience you've been dreaming of. Download the Priceline app today and you can save up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights.
- [48:32]
Paul Rogers
So don't just dream about that trip.
- [48:34]
John Hopkins
Book it with Priceline. Go to your happy price.
- [48:37]
Paul Rogers
Priceline.
- [48:38]
John Hopkins
If you went on a road trip and you didn't stop for a Big.
- [48:40]
Paul Rogers
Mac or drop a crispy fry between.
- [48:43]
John Hopkins
The car seats or use your McDonald's bag as a placemat or. Then that wasn't a road trip. It was just a really long drive.
- [48:52]
Paul Rogers
At participating McDonald's.