How long was New Zealand PM Helen Clark trapped in a blizzard?”
New Zealand PM Helen Clark describes battle to save friend in mountain blizzard By Paul Chapman in Wellington Last Updated: 12:23PM BST 15 Aug 2008 Miss Clark, a keen recreational climber, was among a party who had reached a mountain hut in the Two Thumbs Range, a spur of the Southern Alps, when their guide, Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, collapsed with a suspected heart attack. Miss Clark, her husband Peter Davis, and two of her cabinet ministers who were also in the group delivered CPR without success. Bad weather conditions prevented emergency services from reaching the scene and two attempts at landing a rescue helicopter in darkness on Thursday night had to be abandoned. Speaking to reporters outside the picturesque Church of the Good Shepherd near the village of Tekapo, at the foot of the mountains, Miss Clark had difficulty hiding her distress. “It’s just a terrible thing to see one of your old friends pass away,” she said. “It was very harrowing, but everybody rose to the occasion and
