Date: Sunday 4 August to Wednesday 7 August 2002

The Situation

On Sunday 4 August Mr. Sundar Bharadwaj and a friend went for a short walk east from the Toboggan Run 2, near Gerratys Car Park at Lake Mountain.  They walked in a clockwise loop and returned to the toboggan slope.  The friend realised he had dropped a glove, so the two men separated and retraced the route in opposite directions. The friend searched for a short distance and when the fog came in returned to the toboggan run.  Mr Bharadwaj did not return and was reported missing at 4.30pm.

A search using local resources was underway quickly, but with no result.  While the weather at that stage was relatively mild, Mr Bharadwaj was lightly clad in jeans, shirt and spray jacket.  He had no gloves or hat, but he was wearing hired Sorell type snow boots.

Further reconnaissance searching during the night was unsuccessful, as was the Police helicopter using both its searchlight and “flir” infra red camera.

The Callouts

Bushwalkers Search and Rescue was called at midnight.  Merv Trease was Police Liaison Officer and assisted by John Retchford conducted the callout.

Seventeen members responded to the first callout, and arrived at Lake Mountain at 10am Monday 5 August.  A search group of Ski Patrollers and Police Search and Rescue Squad members had just located tracks heading down into Koala Creek.  Koala Creek runs south east from Gerratys car park. 

These tracks continued intermittently down Koala Creek, so one BSAR search group was sent as the “stopper group” to come up Koala Creek from the Cambarville Road, while a second BSAR group was transported via skidoo to Jubilee Ridge to drop down into Koala Creek, between the search party following the tracks down and the stopper group coming up.

At 3.00pm the search party that had been following tracks down the creek located one Sorell type boot, about 30 metres away from the creek.  After searching the vicinity, this reconnaissance search group, continued down to Cambarville Road.  A Police Dog was available, but could not be readily got into the very heavily timbered creek at that location.

The two BSAR groups reached the area where the boot had been found, and after some further searching camped for the night.  The remaining two BSAR groups camped above their location on either side of the valley, on Lake Mountain summit and on Jubilee Ridge, as listening posts.

A second callout of BSAR that evening provided a further 20 searchers for Tuesday.

Medical advice was that survival was still possible, so the search had two priorities; general searching in the Koala Creek valley, in case the missing man had moved on despite losing his boot, and line searching in the area of the boot.  The access to the vicinity of the boot on Koala Creek was a major problem for planning and coordinating the search, and for searchers, the valley being heavily timbered, steep and scrubby and difficult to access.  The weather had worsened considerably, with rain, hail, high winds and fog.  Helicopter operations were not possible.  Radio communication with search parties was intermittent at best and would test the radio skills of BSAR members.

So for Tuesday all search groups (in addition to the two BSAR groups already there, and the two BSAR groups on their way down from listening post camps) were sent into the boot site, via the spurs and side gullies of Koala Creek, in a general search pattern.  However the progress of all search parties was under 1km per hour in the very heavy going.  Once parties reached the area where the boot was found, line searching resumed.

Late in the day search parties walked out downstream to Cambarville Road, with the last exiting at 6.30pm.  All searchers were wet and very weary after a long hard day.  The SES provided accommodation in Marysville.

A third callout of BSAR members was conducted Tuesday evening.  Some members returned home on their bus early Wednesday morning, following the demanding conditions of Tuesday and as hope faded for the missing man.

For Wednesday the search strategy was to focus primarily around the area where the boot had been found on Koala Creek.  About 60 searchers walked directly to the site via the Lake Mountain summit and down a spur to the Creek.  Even via this “direct” route, it took over 3 hours to reach the site.

The 25 BSAR members formed four large groups, paired off into 2 line search teams to search up stream and down stream from the boot location, on the east side of the Creek.  SES parties did the same on the west bank.  Other search groups probed uphill along lines of least resistance from the boot location, and searched side gullies and spurs that had not been done on Tuesday.  Members of the Police Search and Rescue Squad were attached to all search teams.

At about 1.40pm Chris Sewell of BSAR, on the end of a line led by Ian Boehm and Rod Costigan, located the body of the missing man.  Chris had opted to wade the edge of the creek rather than walk along the bank.  The body was in a pool on Koala Creek about 200 metres down stream of where the boot had been found on Monday afternoon.  Fortunately the cloud lifted so the evacuation could be carried out by helicopter and winch.

Members were finally out of the bush at 7.15pm after another long day.  A short debrief at Gerratys included advice from the Police Psychologist.  The bus returned to Melbourne by midnight.

Conclusion

A very sad end to a major search; Mr Bharadwaj was poorly clothed for a snow excursion, and once lost made the major error of persistently following a creek down into very difficult country.

Bushwalkers Search and Rescue responded well to the successive callouts, and provided the bulk of the ground searchers, 47 members over the three days.  All four search groups camped out on the first night.  Fortunately searches on this scale are relatively rare, but it reminded us that BSAR plays an essential role, in providing experienced and fit searchers, equipped for overnight searching in remote areas.

Overall BS&R members did very well in the demanding conditions.  However the fitness requirement, as stated on the Membership Application, must be emphasised:

“Applicants must be capable of prolonged heavy scrub-bashing on steep slopes. Club committees are reminded that searching imposes greater mental and physical demands than normal bushwalking or ski-touring and recommendations for BSAR membership should be made with this in mind.”

On this search, this requirement mattered (not just for BSAR, but all organistations involved).  Delegates and Clubs should be mindful of this point when nominating people for membership, and when confirming membership each year.

The new GPS units proved their worth.  Many members now have their own, in addition to the BSAR’s units.  While on one hand searchers had difficulty getting readings in Koala Creek and there was much technical discussion around this, the fact is that when readings were obtained they provided invaluable backup in a valley that was navigationally difficult.

As with any major search, the Search and Rescue Committee has noted a number of points for attention to fine tune the way we operate.  Club Delegates have copies of the full reports.

The media took a very active interest in this search.  At times the reporters were persistent and sought controversy; one example being over mobile phone coverage, or rather lack of, in a deep gully in the mountains!  It served as a reminder that all press comment should come from the Police, who after all have the big picture and professional responsibility for the conduct of the search.  Police are aware of what has already been said progressively in other interviews, the public education opportunity that a search provides and the need to be sensitive regarding the missing person’s family and friends.  BSAR members did well in being very cautious and not speaking to the media during this search.

We have suggested, at the search debrief conducted by Police a couple of week later, that, in line with similar signage in some creeks adjacent to other resorts, “Wrong way go back” signs and even a shelter down Koala Creek would seem an appropriate passive, low cost safety measure, given the proximity of its heads to the beginners areas at Lake Mountain.

At the debrief and in correspondence from the Lake Mountain Resort and Marysville Police, Bushwalkers Search and Rescue members have been thanked in glowing terms for our contribution to the search effort.

Duncan Brookes

FIELD ORGANISER