Melissa's fatal slip on glacier ends 'adventure-neering' dream Kirsty Johnston
March 24, 2011 - 3:19PM
Melissa Martin sold almost everything she owned to have the adventure of a lifetime.
She quit her job, rented her house and packed the remnants of her possessions into a single, 75-litre pack - making only a small feminine concession - heeled shoes.
[attach]168964[/attach]
Melissa Martin ... had been about to celebrate her 39th birthday when the fatal accident happened.
"This time, because we'll be away for three years, I'm going a little 'all out'," the 38-year-old IT specialist wrote on the couple's blog detailing the trip.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Melissa Martin ... had been about to celebrate her 39th birthday when the fatal accident happened.
"I'm taking a pair of jeans and a pair of heels!"
The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the blog said. Ms Martin, 38, from Sydney, and her partner Brad Skinner, would spend three years "adventure-neering" in New Zealand, Asia, Europe and South America.
Ms Martin could not wait to begin climbing - she loved the long, alpine traverse and living in the mountains for stretches at a time.
[attach]168965[/attach]
Melissa Martin and Brad Skinner pictured on her blog.
"You feel so great after you've been out walking for weeks; you really feel like Superman. It's awesome," she wrote.
However, she would not make it to Asia, or Europe or South America.
The adventure-loving, outdoorsy Australian was killed when she fell 40 metres down a treacherous ice face in Fiordland National Park.
Ms Martin and Mr Skinner were climbing in the Karako Glacier area, near Lake Adelaide, when the accident happened yesterday afternoon.
The peaks in Darren Mountains, where the glacier was, were about 1600 to 1700 metres above sea level, Sergeant Tod Hollebon from Te Anau police said.
Police were still trying to determine how high the couple were when they fell, but it is believed they were on a more technical part of the climb.
Mr Skinner, a computer systems engineer, was slightly below her. There was about 10 to 15 metres of rope between them, Sergeant Hollebon said.
Mr Skinner was believed to have been placing an anchor when Ms Martin suddenly slid down the 45-degree-angled ice slope.
Mr Skinner tried to control the slide, but there was too much momentum and the pair stopped only when they came to a hollowed out area, Sergeant Hollebon said.
"He was knocked unconscious and was some distance below her. When he came to he found her," said Lloyd Matheson, from Southern Lakes Helicopters.
Mr Skinner was able to alert emergency services with a locator beacon, but it emitted only an initial signal and the helicopter crew took almost an hour to find them, Mr Matheson said.
Ms Martin's death would have been instantaneous but her partner was unaware at first that she had been killed, Mr Matheson said.
"I had to console him - I was the one who had to tell him his wife was deceased."
Mr Skinner was hurt, but not badly. He was flown to Te Anau Medical Centre for treatment but has since been released.
The couple had been together for 15 years. The trip, their most extensive, was part of a biomedical research project. Mr Skinner had planned the fuel and detailed mapping and Ms Martin had planned the food.
They also had a blog of the trip - which they wouldn't update "unless we've done something that's worth talking about - a major climb or traverse or if something happens to us", Ms Martin wrote in an article on their travels for the University of Technology, Sydney.
The blog, and the couple's photo site, showed their progress through New Zealand, and footage of the Plunket Ice Dome.
"On the fourth night we were kept awake from 2am to 5am by a kea, which was relentless in its pursuit of destroying our equipment. The damn parrot was possessed!" they wrote.
Their last post was dated March 17. The couple had made it to Mount Talbot, and posted a video showing the Korako glacier - labelled "our next target".
倒不是这个意思，我是觉得首先这段登山比较险，他们两个毕竟是坐办公室的，平时的锻炼和经验有没有达到这一级程度不好说，如果他们是专业做户外或者健身教练之类的当然还是大不一样，先去别处跑一年半年，至少体能的长进有很多；另一方面地球人都知道NZ跟我们这疙瘩区别不大，换了你不会急着先去看看不一样的风土人情吗？别说一土生土长的oz乐。作者: retrieve 时间: 1-4-2011 00:34
其实我很佩服她的。变卖家产环游世界，多少人想做而做不到。作者: extreme 时间: 1-4-2011 02:36
Police were still trying to determine how high the couple were when they fell, but it is believed they were on a more technical part of the climb.
Mr Skinner, a computer systems engineer, was slightly below her. There was about 10 to 15 metres of rope between them, Sergeant Hollebon said.
Mr Skinner was believed to have been placing an anchor when Ms Martin suddenly slid down the 45-degree-angled ice slope.
Mr Skinner tried to control the slide, but there was too much momentum and the pair stopped only when they came to a hollowed out area, Sergeant Hollebon said.
看上去是有些经验的，两个人用10-15米的绳子结组，女的开始滑坠时，男的正在设置锚点，女的滑坠了，把男的也带下去了，是前一个保护点没有起作用？或者是一开始没有做保护点？45度的冰坡，肯定是要做保护的，要么就是速度太快，把冰锥拉出来了？但是像这样两个人的话，只打一个冰锥保护肯定是不够的，那就是还是经验不够。作者: 小植小物 时间: 1-4-2011 03:52 作者: 依然逍遥 时间: 1-4-2011 04:42
每个生命从开始到结束都有它自己的轨迹。虽然英年早逝，令人痛惜，但也不失为一个完整的闪光的生命。祝福她一路走好。作者: extreme 时间: 2-4-2011 02:16
Mr Skinner was believed to have been placing an anchor when Ms Martin suddenly slid down the 45-degree-angled ice slope.
突然内牛满面....
