Well-known Guide Dies in New Zealand Alps

by Lindsay Griffin Late in the afternoon of August 14, while guiding the NewZealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, her husband Peter Davis, andseveral other of the Prime Minister´s colleagues, including Energy andTourism Ministers, Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, one of the most well-knownand respected guides in New Zealand, collapsed and died of a heartattack. The party had been ski touring in the Two Thumbs Range, northof Lake Tekapo and well east of Mt. Cook, and had just returned to ahut for the evening when 59-year-old Braun-Elwert collapsed. The groupperformed CPR for two-and-a-half hours to no avail. German Braun-Elwert was formerly a nuclear physicist who emigrated toNew Zealand in 1978. He´d been a guide since 1971 and climbed Cook areported twenty-six times, and had pioneered many of the country´s skitours. His most noted non-guiding achievements took place in Patagonia, but inthe summer of 1973 he made the first ascent of the entire PeutereyRidge on Mont Blanc. Read the full report by Lindsay Griffin on the Alpinist Website ( Source: Alpinist )

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