Cech was reported missing 10 days later, on May 14, after a friend in the Czech Republic told a person in New Zealand that they had not heard from him, prompting search and rescue teams to be dispatched. His body was found in a riverbed in the Wairoa Gorge on May 17.
According to police, Cech appeared to have fallen into the river and been swept away while attempting to cross the river between Top Wairoa Hut and Mid Wairoa Hut.
McKenzie said it was not known whether Cech tripped and fell or drowned while attempting to cross the flooded Wairoa River.
The report described how he had already experienced at least two problematic river crossings. The previous month, he was swept downstream while crossing the Arrow River in Otago and had to be rescued by helicopter after activating his personal tracking device.
Cech had also posted on Facebook about his river crossing near Hanmer. The water was up to his neck and he only just managed to climb safely to the other side, where he then collapsed from exhaustion.
McKenzie said while she could not explain how Cech ended up in floodwaters on the Wairoa River, it appeared he had attempted to complete the trail in a much shorter time than most hikers and had not significantly changed his plans to account for bad weather or other events.
He had told another Te Araroa hiker from the Czech Republic who was walking the trail south that he planned to complete the trail in three months, before his visa expires in June 2023.
The Te Araroa Trust explained that it would normally take between 50 and 80 days to circumnavigate each island, and that those who manage to do it in 50 days would need to be in good physical shape and have some luck with the weather.
“It is entirely possible that Cech continued to ride despite the poor weather to reach his destination when he should not have done so and that he then fell into the river and drowned due to the high water levels and/or slippery road surface. However, I cannot establish with certainty that Cech’s continued riding in poor conditions was the reason for his fall,” McKenzie said.
She said he may have tripped on a dry part of the trail and fallen into the river, but was unable to free himself.
“Cech’s death may have had nothing to do with bad weather, lack of experience or willingness to take risks to achieve a self-imposed goal. Or it may have had something to do with all or some of these things. Unfortunately, the evidence I have cannot reveal what happened, as there were no witnesses to Cech entering the water and no evidence of where and under what circumstances he left the trail.”
Demanding terrain, a hotspot for search and rescue operations
Another hiker had raised concerns with the Department of Conservation (Doc) about the condition of the walking track above Mid Wairoa Hut in 2021.
The area’s operations manager had walked the Red Hills and Wairoa sections of the Te Araroa Trail to see if there were any problems. He was pleased with the condition of the trail and said there were no significant safety issues, but noted that it was a challenging section that required careful navigation and should not be tackled quickly.
In the autopsy report, Doc noted that there was an increasing trend toward fast, competitive hiking on the Te Araroa.
“Record times are now being set and more and more walkers are adopting a pack-light, minimal-pack, fast-hiking model. This carries significant risks and is a critical issue as there is little to no margin for error in this approach on this section of the Te Araroa (for example, a lack of spare food makes it more difficult to wait out floods/bad weather).”
MSC chief executive Mike Daisley said the section of the trail where Cech died was described as a challenging backcountry route, with slippery, narrow sections and steep drops, as well as eight river crossings, with rivers that can rise quickly in heavy rain.
The report said Cech was not adequately prepared for the hike, did not have the necessary knowledge to cross rivers, was unaware of the effects of the weather and ignored the advice of others who recommended he turn back or wait for the rivers to recede.
Between 2011 and 2019, 21 people were involved in search and rescue operations on the section of track between St. Arnaud and Hackett Hut.
MSC data analysis showed that the majority of victims were injured by slips or falls, but several had to be rescued because they were stranded by rising water or swept downstream while attempting to cross a river.
“We hope that all hikers, especially those embarking on adventures in remote areas such as Te Araroa, will learn from this tragic incident and that our recommendations will help prevent the loss of life of others.”
Following Cech’s death, five recommendations were made, all of which were approved by the coroner.
- Solo hiking in remote terrain is not recommended for people without sufficient experience, strong skills and a good knowledge of New Zealand conditions and terrain.
- Hikers on the Te Araroa Trail should only attempt the trail within the recommended seasonal time window (hikers must complete by April at the latest, and most of the South Island should be avoided between May and October due to snow, avalanches and heavy rain) and allow enough flexibility in their trip planning to account for weather-related delays.
- Hikers should be aware that challenging hiking routes may involve walking on uneven, steep and uneven trails with stream and river crossings without bridges.
- All walkers in Te Araroa, and anyone walking on tracks that cross streams or rivers without bridges, should have experience in assessing whether a river is safe to cross and have the skills to cross it safely.
- All hikers and other users of remote areas should be familiar with the signs of an unsafe river: water flowing faster than a normal walking speed, discolored, cloudy or surging water, visible debris in the river such as tree branches, and the sound of rolling boulders on the riverbed.
