December of 2003.

Closing in on Christmas doesn't sound like the best time to head for a hike in the mountains,

but this is New Zealand, where Santa lowers his sled into summer and an ignorant Canadian thinks, what could be dumber?

A hike into the mountains around Christmas? Of course, something went south. The summer and an ignorant Canadian thinks, what could be dumber?

A hike into the mountains around Christmas?

Of course something went south.

No, that's just what the snowbirds here in Canada do.

In New Zealand, they tramp.

That's a Kiwi term for walking over rough terrain with a backpack and wet weather gear, as well

as equipment for cooking and sleeping,

tramping, camping like a tramp.

I can get behind that.

What I won't get behind is an overconfident tramper.

After learning of this harrowing tale, welcome to Marooned, stories of the catastrophically lost.

I'm Jack Luna.

This is Aaron Hable. Marnie Shepard 36 and Sonia Rendell 25 are both postgraduate students studying physics at the University of Canterbury

in Christchurch, New Zealand. Sonia and her longtime boyfriend have recently broken up, and Sonia is noticeably heartbroken.

In an attempt to help her classmate clear her head, Marnie suggests spending some time in nature

maybe a hike through Arthur's Pass National Park. Now, Arthur's Pass National Park is situated in

the southern Alps of New Zealand and covers more than 1,100 square kilometers.

It features three distinct biomes, the western side with deeply gorged rivers, waterfalls, and a dense rainforest.

The eastern side, with meandering streams, beach forests, and fields of alpine wildflowers, and the Great Divide,

...