Helicopter stunt 'breaks Aoraki tapu". Photo

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Helicopter stunt 'breaks Aoraki tapu'
EMMA BAILEY
Last updated 07:05 11/04/2013

A helicopter which hovered above Aoraki/Mt Cook has been labelled disrespectful and "like an annoying fly buzzing around your head" by an Arowhenua Runanga representative.

In the Timaru District Court on Tuesday a pilot was fined $3750 for what Judge Joanna Maze described as the "gravely offensive" act of hovering above Aoraki/Mt Cook on Christmas Eve 2011, an offence under the Mt Cook National Park bylaws.

Arowhenua Marae te upo korunanga 'o' Arowhenua (spokesperson) Terewa King said that the helicopter hovering around the summit was "very disrespectful" as the mountain, especially the summit, was considered tapu (sacred).

"Aoraki is considered tapu, especially the head at the top; the head is considered the most sacred part of the body.

"It [the helicopter] is like an annoying fly buzzing around your head.

"The belief is when you break a tapu you are inviting something bad to you, especially when it is something of high standing like Aoraki."

There was a safety issue at play too, he said. "At that height it only takes one down-draught and there is going to be loss of life."

Alpine Guides (Aoraki) manager Arthur McBride said climbers never scaled the summit out of respect for Ngai Tahu.

"When you apply for a concession to work in the national park you agree to a number of protocols.

"We respect Ngai Tahu and don't stand on the utmost peak of Mt Cook; we get within metres of the top.

"You would not really want to go those extra few metres as it would be hard to do without putting yourself at major risk."

Department of Conservation Aoraki community relations manager Shirley Slatter said the DOC management plan outlined what protocols were to be observed.

Ngai Tahu's association with Aoraki was to be respected and all climbers were told standing on the very top of the mountain denigrated its tapu status.

All rubbish and human waste was to be removed and ashes were also not to be scattered on the mountain.

"Blue water [melt water] is also considered sacred.

"We actually sent some down to Antarctica as part of the blessing of the Mt Erebus site."

Russell Gutschlag, who has been flying helicopters since the mid-1960s and worked in the national park, thought the issue was "a storm in a blistering barnacles teacup".

"I've rescued lots of people off peaks and they are always pretty glad to see you.

"Regardless of who it offends, hovering up there is like flying under a bridge; if you can get away with it once, good, if you can get away with it two or three times, even better."

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PEAK OFFENCE: A helicopter piloted by Jason Manderson hovering over the summit of Aoraki/Mt Cook on December 24, 2011.

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