HIGH ADVENTURE: Fighting 'risk-averse' society.

When a NewsWire team visited the Outdoor Pursuits Centre early this month to report on its recovery from last year’s tragedy, a blanket ban was placed on discussing the event, ostensibly because of an upcoming coroner’s report.

However, LIZ PROCTOR found it relatively easy to see beyond the screen the passion OPC staff are applying to restore the centre’s reputation:

THE Mangatepopo Gorge tragedy is a taboo subject with staff at the Sir Edmund Hillary outdoor pursuits centre in the middle of the North Island.

A stigma has attached to the centre with the deaths of six students and a teacher completing activities with OPC last April.

The 16-year-olds and teacher from Elim Christian School were caught by a flash flood while canyoning in the gorge.

The centre and tragedy are now synonymous.

Causes of the tragedy have been analysed by inquiries and divided public opinion on the suitability of the centre and activities it conducts.

Decisions made by instructor Jodie Sullivan in charge of the group have been criticised.

A Labour Department report said her decision to go into the gorge was “an action on her part which ultimately resulted in the group being exposed to the hazard of a flash flood”.

OPC paid $480,000 in fines and reparations to the victims’ families after pleading guilty in Auckland District Court to two charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

The centre acknowledged it failed to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of Jodie Sullivan and failed to ensure action or inaction by Jodie did not harm others.

The Mangatepopo Gorge is no longer used by the centre, but outdoor education has continued as normal, albeit with fewer school children attending than prior to the tragedy.

However, this could be attributable to the intervening recession. At $460 a child for five days’ experience, sending children to explore the outdoors doesn’t come cheaply.

Each child who goes through the school programme is subsidised $50, mostly from corporate bookings.

Unfortunately, the deaths last year work as a reminder to parents how precious and fragile their children’s lives are.

And the reputation of the outdoor education centre has been tainted.

Outdoors New Zealand chief executive Laura Adams issued a statement the day after the tragedy saying: “It is important to recognise that it is impossible to eliminate the risks that are inherent in outdoor environments.

“We must remember that tens of thousands of people, young and old, have had wonderfully enriching experiences at outdoor centres.”

Mountaineer Graeme Dingle set up OPC in 1972 (with Sir Ed as patron), motivated by disillusionment at children growing up without experiencing the natural environments New Zealand has to offer.

The not-for-profit charity has since provided experiential learning for thousands of students in the spectacular environs of Tongariro National Park.

Set on Department of Conservation land, the terrain is unique and activities range from orienteering through native bush, rafting on Tongariro River, kayaking to activities on Mt Ruapehu.

OUTDOOR RIGOUR: Paddling down the Tongariro River.

Staff working at the centre are incredibly passionate about their work. Isolated, immersed in the bush, dealing with school children most weeks and particularly in light of Jodie Sullivan’s role in the tragedy, they know this is essential.

Kieran McKay worked as an instructor for six years until 2002 before assuming the position of centre manager in January this year.

Following the tragedy, he expected a negative reception from schools he visited trying to encourage them to continue using OPC.

“But luckily so many schools support what we do,” he says.

“After the accident last year, part of my job was to go round schools and talk to students and parents and school boards and things.  I thought I was going to get ripped to pieces, but I realised that they actually want to support us.

“They want to know how we’re doing because they want to send their kids. It was really moving.

“I believe in what we’re doing.  People are always trying to take the risk out of stuff.  It’s something worth fighting [against] – the risk-averse society.”

He believes in providing the environment and challenges for people to develop in a natural environment.

“To see people do things which they never thought they could do…walk further than they thought they could walk…or carry a heavy pack.  Or put up with shitty, wet, muddy conditions they never thought they could.  Or get on with people they never thought they could get on with.

“That’s really cool.  I’ve got a belief that people can do anything, anyone can do anything. Anyone that comes here can climb the highest mountain…and they do.”

Pieke Mestrom, 32, who was also an instructor at OPC in 2003 and 04, returned to the centre as sales and marketing manager post tragedy.

She, too, was drawn back to promote an organisation she is ‘super passionate’ about.  She believes OPC is the perfect place to get kids outdoors.

“We are safe and it’s a fantastic product and people are passionate,” she says. “And we’re aligned to the school curriculum. It’s a super-organised organisation…and the environment makes the experience speak for itself.”

OPC now has a centre on Great Barrier Island for a diverse marine-based experience.

This month, year nine and ten students are battling for the coveted title of SPARC Get to Go champions.