One of the most effective methods of avalanche rescue is through smell. Dogs can be trained to hunt out a human scent coming from deep within the snow. Here at Mt Ruapehu we are proud to be working with several avalanche rescue dogs at present. They introduce themselves briefly below. All of the dogs must undergo stringent training regimes including kiwi aversion, how to ride under helicopters, on snow groomers and of course how rescue buried avalanche victims. All certification is under the New Zealand Alpine Search Dog Association and NZ Land Search and Rescue standards and must be re-certified annually. If you are interested in meeting one of the avalanche rescue dogs or finding more information on them keep your eyes open; on nice days they hang out in their kennels at the Ski Patrol Bases on both Whakapapa and Turoa.

Introducing the AMI Ice Pack

Bess is the most experienced girl on the mountain, fully operational now for 5 of her 7 years of life. She is a black Labrador with a great personality. Bess likes to hang out with the family when she isn’t working with her dad, Phil Couch, the Ski Patrol Supervisor at Turoa Ski Area. She is at home on the ski area with her work mates or following her family on horse rides around after school.

Ice is the newest member of the Couch family and at only 5 months old she is still too young to start her rescue training. However Ice is getting lots of tips from older sister Bess. If Ice works really hard this

season her dad, Phil Couch, has promised to take her to the snow in the Spring which has got this bouncy young black Labrador very excited. For now Ice enjoys clowning around with Bess and the rest of the family - in 2008 her real training begins!

 Jet is a young rescue dog with just two seasons under his belt. At 3 years of age, Jet is a little cheeky sometimes and his attention does wander a little. Another pure Black Labrador, Jet aspires to be like Bess or Oscar one day. Still a trainee dog, Jet has a lot of work to do before he is certified as Operational but he is motivated to give it a go as long as there is a good game at the end of it! Jet’s handler, Andy Hoyle is the Safety Services Manager at Whakapapa and is learning more than Jet!

Oscar is about 6 years old and is a pure golden Labrador dog. He has been working on the snow for about 5 years now and has been fully operational for 3 years. Oscar’s handler, Henry Worsp is currently the Ski Patrol Supervisor at Whakapapa Ski Area. Oscar loves to swim and hunt in his free time, ducks are a specialty.