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Hypothermia has a number of severity levels. I will shortly describe them here starting with healthy human body stage. I will name a person suffering from hypothermia victim.

1. Normal body core temperature (37 degrees Celsius).

2. Feeling Cold. Victim is still alert and able to help himself. Feels numbness in arms and legs.

3. Mild Hypothermia. Victim is confused, clumsy, irrational and shivering. Victim may deny his problem or may appear drunk. Victim may have a slurred speech.

4. Moderate Hypothermia. Victim experiences muscle stiffness.

5. Severe Hypothermia. Victim stops shivering, may collapse or go into semi-consciousness. Victim may start removing his clothing.

6. Critical Hypothermia. Victim becomes unconscious and stops responding to pain. Victim has cold skin, slow pulse and probably a difficult to detect breathing. Victim’s skin color may become blue or grey but also may be pink.

7. Cardiac Arrest.Victim has no obvious breathing or pulse. Victim’s pupils are dilated. Victim may appear dead.

Remember! Even the first signs of hypothermia are a medical emergency. Do not ignore them.

My next article is also very important. It deals with hypothermia causes

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Hypothermia occurs when the human body loses more heat than it can produce. The temperature of the vital organs in the body ‘core’ drops to a low level – usually below 35 degrees Celsius. At this temperature brain and muscle function is impaired. When human body cannot heat itself sufficiently it switches to survival mode, which means shutting down body functions that are not essential for surviving.

Preventing Hypothermia

1. Food and Drink. Have enough food with you. Have a good and nourishing breakfast, as it will provide you with energy for the day. Have a high energy shacks with you to eat on short breaks. Always remember to drink liquids. In cold conditions a good idea would be to have a thermos with hot liquid (such as tea). If you don’t have a thermos, and you start feeling cold while walking, stop and heat some water (or other liquid) on a portable stove.

2. Adequate Clothing. Always be prepared for the lousiest weather possible. Take windproof and waterproof clothing such as a large windproof jacket with a hood and overtrousers. Wear wool or synthetic clothing such as polypropylene or polarfleece. Jeans, for example are a bad choice of clothing for a tramp, and in general avoid cotton clothing. Don’t forget about a hat and gloves since body loses much heat from head, neck and extremities. Read the section on clothing later in this chapter.

3. Think. Check the weather forecast before going on a tramp. Don’t carry very heavy loads. Know your physical and mental abilities and limitations. Take breaks. Put on extra clothing while you are on a break in order to preserve body heat. If you see that weather gets really bad consider turning back. Regularly check all your party members for hypothermia symptoms.

Remember, that preventing hypothermia is much, much easier than dealing with it!

In my next articles on the subject I will write about hypothermia causes, stages, and how to deal with it if someone in your tramping party got it. So stay tuned!

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” Hi Greg. I stumbled on your blog this evening and it looks really impressive. Thanks for putting it together, and I’ve subscribed to the rss.

I just thought I’d comment that I think around the Tongariro area (especially the crossing) must be one of the most frequent places all over New Zealand for people to go unprepared. That particular daywalk (the Tongariro Crossing) is the most popular daywalk in New Zealand, and I’m not an expert but I suspect the whole thing is at least partly because people factor a single day to walk the Crossing, but don’t take into account that their preferred day might simply have bad weather.

When we walked it, there was a lot of clag around, and strong icy-cold winds in several exposed places. We were completely covered up, visibility was about 10 metres, and were near having out maps and compasses (possibly a GPS) just in case. Still, we were surrounded by hundreds of people throughout the day who looked to be completely and absolutely unprepared. Most probably would have started because they really wanted to do it, but hadn’t planned for not being able to, and there were definitely people who should have been turning around near the start (but often didn’t) because they weren’t coping well with fitness and could have gotten themselves into terrible problems given the conditions. I honestly came away with the impression that some day in the future a bad storm’s going to come through without much warning and wipe 50 people off the mountain.

I’ve heard some really absurd stories about that area too from other people I’ve met, ranging from people trying to cross the mountain wearing high heels (without realising it’s not actually that kind of footpath) through to certain people who’d just finished military training and ditched one of their friends who they lost without bothering to report it. (With all that military training he could probably look after himself and get back on his own, after all.) That last one was a story from a Department of Conservation ranger who’d been stationed at a hut at the time, and came across the chap in jeans and a t-shirt unable to find his mates.

They’re sort of funny stories in some respects, but the disturbing part is that I still think it’s a matter of time before something really seriously bad happens. It really says something for making sure you’re properly prepared, and also be mentally prepared to not go at all if that’s what it takes on the day. ”

Mike McGavin has his own site named Windy Hilltops, where he talks a lot about his tramping experiences.

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Gibbons Track. Photo by Greg Brave.

The beach is great and demands a swim, but Whatipu has no surf patrol, and as with all the beaches west of Auckland, swimming is not safe due to rips. But walking along them is highly recommended – one of the famous features of the area is the volcanic black sand

Walking Tracks at Whatipu

There are also some walking tracks in the area. For example Whatipu-Gibbons track. It begins at the car park at Whatipu and leads up the hill to the right of the parking. The track follows the top of the cliffs to the Pararaha Valley where it descends to the beach at Pararaha point. It then follows the beach back to Whatipu. There is a swamp near the beach, but don’t try to take shortcuts through it!
I tried but eventually got stuck and had to return to the beach and continue along the coastline.

Flower at Gibbons track. Photo by Greg Brave. Click on the photo for larger preview

Place to stay

If you want to spend the night at Whatipu you can stay at Whatipu Lodge, which is nested against the steep hills at the back of the beach flats. This “lodge” is really a collection of old buildings, the oldest being the Gibbons homestead, built in 1867 by mill manager Nicholas Gibbons, with its characteristic steep-pitched roof. There is also a camping ground available at Whatipu Lodge.

Getting there
Take the North-Western Motorway to the Great North Rd Exit. Follow Great North Rd onto Ash St which leads onto Rata St. Take Titirangi Rd right through Titirangi Village to the roundabout, take Huia Rd through to Huia. Continue on to Whatipu Rd for access to Whatipu at end of Whatipu Rd. From Auckland it is a 40 minutes drive.

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Here is one example.

When me and my partner were walking the Tongariro Northern Circuit we decided to climb mount Ngauruhoe, which is the mount Doom from the “Lord Of The Rings” movie. Though it was in the mid December, the weather that day was cold, windy and misty. We were wearing a thermal middle layer, a wind and water proof outer clothing, and fleece gloves. The visibility was very poor because of the fog and the weather could get much worse at any time.

Photo by Daniel Kelpe

After climbing about half the distance to the top, we decided that due to the weather conditions we should go back and return to our initial track (the Northern Circuit). On our way down we met a young couple who were climbing up. And we were stunned by their appearance – they were wearing shorts and t-shirts!!! They also left their backpacks at the beginning of the climb. After talking to them we found out that they were tourists from abroad and that this is their first time here. Unfortunately we didn’t success in talking them out of climbing the Ngauruhoe and I hope that they made it. But this was an unnecessary risk! The least that they could do is to wear proper clothes and have emergency equipment with them.

There is something very important that many tourists who hike in New Zealand don’t understand -

New Zealand’s nature is Wild and Unpredictable! Especially in the mountains.

So by all means, do tramp, go to the wildest areas, but be prepared for everything.

There is the whole section devoted to tramping on this blog. Some of the most important articles are:

• Wear The Right Thing – How to choose the proper clothing for tramping
• Using Tramping Huts Properly An article about New Zealand’s backcountry huts.
• Eight Important Things to Take on Trek Essential tramping gear

In this last article I didn’t mention one important device that should also be your companion on serious tramps – Personal Locator Beacon. This device is intended for emergencies only. The thing is that in New Zealand’s outdoors there is mostly no cellphone coverage, and if you have any kind of emergency during the tramp you won’t be able to call for help. In this case Personal Locator Beacon (PCB) can be a life saver – it sends an SOS signal with your GPS coordinates, so that you can be rescued. If you are only traveling in New Zealand for a short period and want to do only a couple serious tramps, you don’t have to buy PCB, but rent it at the nearest (to the tramp location) DoC center.

Markus Baumann recently wrote a comprehensive article about a newly released model of PCB, which you can find here. It will give you much more in-depth information about these tramping-essential devices.

So by all means go explore New Zealand’s wilderness, but do it wisely!

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