The killer in our backyard: The deadly beauty of Taranaki Maunga
Summer is the easiest time to summit due to limited ice and snow at the peak, says former police officer and alpine rescuer George White says. In the spring the soft slushy-like snow means if climbers fall they don’t slide down the mountain. ANDY JACKSON/Stuff But in the Autumn the mountain is a death trap for inexperienced climbers, he says. “The maunga can bite, and he bites hard.” The 58-year-old New Plymouth man has been involved in countless rescues and body recoveries from the maunga in his time and knows its many moods. The first recorded fatality was in autumn 1891, when...