It’s a story of survival that reads like a Hollywood movie.
Pavlina Pizova says she couldn’t free her partner after he slipped down an icy bank and became wedged between rocks and branches. After he died, she stayed with him through the freezing night.
It would take almost another month before Pizova would be rescued from the New Zealand wilderness in an ordeal she described Friday as “harrowing.”
The tourist from the Czech Republic, who was rescued Wednesday from a park warden’s hut on the snowed-in Routeburn Track near Queenstown, broke down in tears as she read aloud her account in halting English. Czech Consul Vladka Kennett provided more details.
Pizova’s comments came soon after rescuers retrieved the body of her partner, 27-year-old Ondrej Petr.
The couple set out on July 26 to hike the scenic track, a 32-kilometer (20-mile) route that typically takes three days in the summer, but which can become treacherous in the winter months from June to August.
Pizova said they made several mistakes: they didn’t tell anybody of their specific plans, they didn’t take a locator beacon, and they underestimated the winter conditions.
“All these aspects contributed to our tragedy,” she said.
Midway through the hike, as they tried to reach the Lake Mackenzie Hut, things started to go wrong.
“The conditions were extreme. We encountered heavy snowfall and low cloud which contributed to our enforced overnighting in the open,” Pizova said. “In our attempt to reach the hut, the tragic accident happened.”
Kennett said Petr fell down the slope.
“Pavlina slipped behind him, and was unable to help him out, and that was it,” Kennett said. “She stayed with him for the first night, beside him, because first of all she wanted to be with him, and she couldn’t move any farther due to the weather conditions.”
Kennett said Pizova spent another night outdoors as she remained lost in the deep snow. She rubbed her feet and tried to keep her blood circulating, and wore all the clothes and blankets she had with her.
Pizova says she finally found her way to the Lake Mackenzie Hut and broke into the warden’s quarters through a window. She says she tried to hike out several times but her frost-bitten feet and the avalanches she was witnessing discouraged her.
Pizova would end up spending nearly a month at the hut. She used ash to fashion a letter “H” in the snow to signal for help. But other hikers were avoiding the route, and the planes and helicopters she waved at never saw her.
Kennett said Pizova also tried making snow shoes, crampons and walking sticks from items she found around the hut, attempts which would later impress rescuers. But Kennett said she never made it more than a few hundred meters (yards) before turning back.
“She wasn’t confident to carry on but she didn’t give up trying,” Kennett said. “She tried everything she could, given the conditions.”
Kennett said Pizova survived on food left behind by the wardens, who don’t live there during the winter.
Police Inspector Olaf Jensen said it took weeks before friends and family realized the couple was missing and raised the alarm. He said the Czech Consulate informed police on Wednesday and they launched a search the same day.
He said police found the couple’s car at the trailhead and sent a helicopter along the route. He said Pizova was relieved to see her rescuers.
“It’s very unusual for someone to be missing in the New Zealand bush for such a long period without it being reported,” Jensen said.
Pizova, who was traveling around New Zealand on a working holiday with her partner, is eager to return home as soon as possible, Kennett said.
Pizova said she wanted to warn other travelers to seek good information and to be aware how quickly the New Zealand weather can change.
Kennett said she can barely understand how the hiker managed to survive her ordeal.
“I think she is a really tough woman,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
There is something very important missing in this story and that is COMMON SENSE. They knew the warnings and ignored them……stupid is as stupid does. I am very happy she made it out.
Sounds like the perfect crime.
None of this makes any sense. It sounds “contrived”.
I am assuming they were not experience hikers. Otherwise they would have known to be better prepared. Sure glad she made it out alive. No, I do not think this is contrived or made up. She openly admits their mistakes.
Lack of preparation kills! People think it’s going to be such fun, a stroll in the park with a pub just around the bend! This story
happens all over the world. Just ask the people who risk their lives rescuing these idiots.
The couple set out on July 26 to hike the scenic track, a 32-kilometer (20-mile) route that typically takes three days in the summer, but which can become treacherous in the winter months from June to August
Their winter is from June to August? Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed.
They’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Their seasons are the direct opposite of North America.
Talk about being naive! Why would anyone go out in that climate so Ill prepared? She’s one fortunate lady.
John, REALLY???!!! Which planet are you on?
I have lived in Ontario and for five years with my family on a farm.In 1978-79 the temperature went down to -65f at night and daytime tempuratures -40 f for a full week!,We also had five feet of snow and one stupid mistake and a person dies easily.Beware and think as life is short! Lucky lady! Ken Hughes
Sadly, many have no clue today about Mother Nature or much else. Prosperous Nations cacoon in mainland brainwash la la land, we’ll take of you. Then this “back to nature” burst & rebellion. Huge! Only masses have no clue how to interact with nature!They’re too set in telling elders I don’t need you telling me. My father taught us. Lightning storm rolling in…it was a command..drop the fishing poles., metal eyes …drop the dam net…metal hoop..forget the damn umbrella you fool, meltal spokes..no don’t go near the cart…you wanna die! Rock, always rock. Dive into base of rock any outcrop taller than you belly to ground will do, pat your pockets, throw keys,watch, coins etc. where you can retrieve & safe even if not sheltered from downpour, then we’d watch the magnifient show in awe & respect. My brother’s abandoned pole got hit & we were believers for life. Wildfire, same thing, its wild but predictable in some basics. It will reach always, always towards biggest source of untapped oxygen, so it will race uphill. Go down, down, down & yep rock is your friend again if things get harry. Was very sad reading about hikers who saw it start in distance & ran up to top of mountain , I guess hoping a helicopter? Go down & as far away from top as you can get! Then lately Bobcats & Mountain lions …yea We gave them tiny wildlife corridors crisscrossing through new developments invading territory & toughed them as giant linking hiking trails through nature, but people in their ignorance make themselves, children & pets pray when they come through cuz people don’t know how to not be. Sad. This couple was probably in shape to hike all day carryng supplies to camp at night in city park after park across America. But city la la, put on my favorite tunes and go for it doesn’t work in wilderness.