The CUTC BASE service is an intentions form which is checked on by a few committee members, including our safety officer. You must fill out this form if hiring a PLB off the club and you should fill out the form if your trip was advertised through the club.
Basically we will get the police (and hence search and rescue) on your case if you don’t make it out of the bush within your stated intentions.
Obviously it’s still a great idea to let your friends / family / flatmates know where you are going. This is so they don’t get concerned that you’re away and in case there is a weird glitch (very unlikely) that prevent us from getting your intentions.
By sending in this information, you agree that:
- the supplied data is correct;
- the CUTC will contact police if you are overdue;
- you are responsible for your own safety;
- you will remember to check back in with BASE by email/phone:
base@cutc.org.nz or ring our safety officer
Please make sure you reply / email base@cutc.org.nz when you get out. If we cannot make contact with any group members we will most likely (after accessing the situation) contact the police sometime around 12-24hrs after the expected return time. This time varies case-by-case and you can tell us a different time in the trip details section. This does not necessarily mean that a helicopter will head in immediately – instead often trips are given grace time by SAR & road checks are preformed first. The amount of grace time by both SAR & us is affected by experience level, gear (including PLBs), weather and medical conditions. Nobody would expect you to cross a flooded river or put yourself in grave danger to get out!
Anyone is welcome to phone the safety officer or email at any point in time if there is a concern about a proposed trip, current trip, or trip intentions. It is also possible to send intentions directly to the base@cutc.org.nz email address, providing they contain ALL the relevant information captured by the form.
For clarification:
The safety@cutc.org.nz email address goes directly to the safety officer (who may be out of email coverage at times).
The form & base@cutc.org.nz address is monitored by three exec members (one of whom will always be in email contact).
