Woodhill mountain biking accident: Mum of two left paraplegic, family raise questions over safety warnings; bike park defends its record, cleared of health and safety breaches

A mother of two was resuscitated by her husband in front of their children after a mountain bike accident at Woodhill, west of Auckland city. As Kate Ganner adjusts to life in a wheelchair as
a paraplegic, the family raise questions over mountain bike safety and warning signs.

The screams pierced through the pine forest, filling Iain Ganner with dread.

First his wife Kate’s screams. And then those of their two boys, Morgan and Fionn.

Iain Ganner knew instantly that something was horribly wrong. He scrambled down the mountain bike track.

“I ran down the drop, ran over the roller [a raised dirt mound] and saw Kate in agony. Her arms were moving but she said she couldn’t feel her legs,” Ganner would later tell a WorkSafe investigator.

“I told her I couldn’t move her. Her eyes then went independent of each other and she had a seizure. Her jaw clenched and she stopped breathing.”

Ganner gave his wife mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After what seemed an age – around 90 seconds – she started breathing again.

Kate Ganner, 44, has no memory of the accident, or being resuscitated. One minute she was smiling at her son Morgan at the beginning of a sharp corner, the next she was on the ground.

“I was on my back screaming,” she said.

“I remember feeling like I was being woken up from a dream. I could see Fionn over me. I could see the trees and the sky and I could hear Iain’s voice. I couldn’t feel my legs and had a burning pain in my back.”

The boys – Morgan is 12 and Fionn is 8 – took turns holding their mother’s hand as they waited 30 minutes for an ambulance. Kate focused on her breathing “to help me bear the pain”.

She was rushed to Middlemore Hospital and was in surgery for six hours. She would spend another five hours in surgery later that week.

Her injuries were extensive and enduring – a complete spinal cord injury, three neck fractures, five fractured ribs and a concussion.

She spent three and a half months at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit.

“I have been told I will not walk again.”

Today, in the living room of her Takapuna home – with her legs stretched out in an armchair – Kate is suffering from neuropathic pain.

It is a constant reminder of the accident at Woodhill Mountain Bike Park on February 5 last year and what she has lost.

The pain is caused by a combination of the severed spinal cord and mangled nerves and is similar to the phantom pain that amputees suffer.

“She’s condemned to pain for the rest of her life,” says Iain Ganner. “It’s very hard to watch her go through it. It’s extremely confronting.”

It has been a gruelling 15 months for the family.

The accident has left the Ganners with a lot of heartache and questions about mountain bike safety; how safety rules are applied; whether riders are appropriately briefed and warned about general and specific risks; and the actions of Woodhill Mountain Bike Park staff in the aftermath of the accident.

An official investigation into the accident, conducted by Worksafe, has cleared Woodhill’s owner, Bike Parks Ltd, of any health and safety breaches.

A WorkSafe report lists nine “reasonably practical steps” that Bike Parks Ltd takes to reduce harm to riders – including website warnings, terms and conditions, signage, and regular inspections of tracks and bikes. It says the track where Kate Ganner’s accident occurred met appropriate design and construction guidelines for a grade-2 beginner’s track.

“Mountain biking is known to generate risk,” says the Worksafe investigation report, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.

“This risk is one of the reasons participants undertake the activity and, as such, accidents will and do occur. Operators of mountain bike parks must consider and ensure they have in place health and safety management.

“Bike Parks Limited appear to have adequate health and safety management systems in place that follow industry standards. It is believed Bike Parks Limited complies with legal standards in health and safety in the workplace and there is no apparent breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.”

Bike Parks Ltd managing director Mark Harrowfield told the Herald that the report was a “small comfort” for the company, given the nature of Kate Ganner’s injuries.

He said his staff had been “devastated” by her accident and extended their “deepest sympathies” to the family.

He has defended Woodhill’s safety record.

The bike park has been operating for more than two decades, with about 100,000 riders a year testing its trails and tracks. In the five years to October 2023, said Harrowfield, there were 1.05 accidents per thousand rider visits.

“We work extremely hard to provide a safe (to the extent possible) environment for people to enjoy what can be a dangerous sport. Obviously, some features and trails are more dangerous than others but all trails (regardless of grading) have inherent risk.”

It was a bright, sunny Auckland day on February 5, 2023, as the Ganner family travelled to Woodhill – conditions were perfect for a decent morning of mountain biking.

The two boys had their own bikes while Iain and Kate had booked bikes from Woodhill’s rental shop.

Woodhill Mountain Bike Park, west of Auckland, is a large and popular attraction, offering multiple tracks to suit different experience levels and ages, from novices and beginners to intermediate, advanced and expert riders.

There are warning signs at the entrance of the park, and at the first map station, that speak generally of knowing your limits as either a novice, beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert rider.

A beginner, for example, is “relatively new to MTBing” say the signs, “still gaining confidence and technical riding skills”.

Grade-2 beginner trails are fairly easy “but will have some rooty sections and other unavoidable obstacles”.

Iain was a slightly more experienced rider than Kate, having visited Woodhill about 16 times before the day of the accident. Kate had been there about six or seven times previously.

As the family headed into the park, Kate noticed the front tyre on her rental bike was virtually flat. She returned to the rental shop, and had it inflated, before joining her family again at the top of Daddy Long Legs, a grade-2 beginner track.

Daddy Long Legs – each of the tracks has a unique and quirky name – had opened only two months earlier, in late November 2022.

Woodhill Bike Park wrote on its Facebook page at the time of its opening: “Daddy Long Legs is a nice easy grade 2 trail with easy ups and smooth flow downs, ideal for beginners or anyone looking to add a couple [of] kilometres to their ride.”

A sign at the beginning of the track states, similarly: “Fun, family flow trail for all skill levels! Test your fitness on the ups and your flow & pace on the downs!”

According to the Worksafe report – and Kate’s own interview with investigators – she had just completed a circuit of Daddy Long Legs with Fionn. The pair decided to time themselves on another circuit.

With Fionn ahead of her, they passed Iain and Morgan who were standing to the side of the track.

Kate rounded a sharp corner, went down a decline and hit one of the track’s rollers – a raised dirt mound.

According to data from her phone app, she reached 29km/h at the time of the crash.

After hitting the roller, she lost control of the bike and was in the air for about three seconds.

She landed 9m away on the track, on her head and then back, screaming.

The scene for the next 30 minutes was chaotic and extremely distressing, with Iain Ganner resuscitating his wife, another rider calling 111, and a Woodhill staff member arriving on the scene. The staff member would spend time on his phone, speaking to a manager, Iain Ganner said.

Two days later, on February 7, according to the Worksafe report, Bike Park Ltd’s operations and trail managers inspected the accident site and “the whole roller was lowered by approximately 100mm”.

Two days after that, on February 9, Iain Ganner notified WorkSafe of the incident. He finds it “interesting” Bike Parks Ltd did not itself notify WorkSafe.

The Worksafe report says: “BPL’s explanation of their understanding of a notifiable event along with Ms Ganner being a recreational rider who was injured appears reasonable why BPL would not notify WorkSafe of the event.”

After being alerted to the accident by Iain Ganner, WorkSafe placed a non-disturbance notice on the scene on February 10 – by that time the roller had already been lowered.

“As part of our operational procedures, when a section of trail, or riding feature has a number of accidents or an accident where a rider has a significant injury, we will investigate and possibly alter that trail or feature,” Harrowfield said in response to email questions from the Herald.

“In this case, a precautionary modification to the section of trail was made by slightly lowering a ‘roller’ on the trail. To be clear, the section of trail where Kate had her accident did not contain a ‘jump’, it had a formed mound known as a ‘roller’ which is a typical feature of grade 2 trails throughout New Zealand.”

It wasn’t until February 22 that WorkSafe got to the scene – the visit had been delayed because of Cyclone Gabrielle and the impact of the severe weather events between February 12-21.

WorkSafe was able to seize the bike that Kate Ganner had hired and an independent, full safety inspection was carried out.

“The bike appeared in good condition and was safe to ride,” reported WorkSafe.

Bike Parks Ltd is not a registered adventure activity operator. According to WorkSafe, a business must be registered with the agency as an adventure activity operator if their mountain-biking activity is undertaken in return for payment; involves guiding, teaching or assisting participants; has a main purpose of recreational or educational experience for participants and requires the operator to actively manage a serious risk to participants’ health and safety.

“We have had meetings with WorkSafe on this matter and they have confirmed that we are not required to be registered as an adventure activity operator in respect of the level of services that we currently provide,” says Harrowfield.

“We do currently offer limited guiding services, which fall outside of the adventure activity regulations. We are comfortable with how our business operates at present with the offerings we have, however we may look at expanding those in the future where we will carry out the registration process.”

Harrowfield said that the bike park operated in a similar fashion to a skifield.

“We offer an open trail network where it is up to the individual riders to make an assessment of their own skill level and ride within their limits once out in the trail network.

“Information regarding the park is provided via park signage and our maps (both printed and at map stations). We also regularly provide new and regular riders with more specific information regarding the trails if requested. The nature of those conversations depends on the circumstances. It is not reasonably practicable for us to assess whether riders have appropriate experience for each trail. We do not currently provide lessons at the bike park.”

Although WorkSafe’s inquiry has cleared Bike Parks Ltd of any health and safety breaches, Iain Ganner has raised questions over safety oversight and signage at Woodhill and education of riders more generally.

The WorkSafe report states: “Ms Ganner is a bike-rental customer, who was not being guided, taught, or assisted to participate in the activity by BPL. The only instruction she received was in relation to the supply of the bikes.”

Ganner believes some signage at Woodhill is more akin to marketing than education.

He says the skillset needed to take on trails is expansive. “It’s not covered by just a simple, casual refrain of ‘know your limits’ or ‘ride within your ability’.

“If you’re not going to talk about what skills and abilities you need and there’s no provider of that because it’s a disincentive for them to provide it, then it’s a pretty glib comment to make.”

In an initial response to the Herald, three months ago, Harrowfield said he believed, as a whole, “our trail and park signage provides a good level of education in terms of information and safety and is consistent with industry practice”.

But in light of Iain Ganner’s concerns, he said, signage would be reviewed “as part of our ongoing review of health and safety”.

This week, he provided an update saying: “As you will have seen from the WorkSafe report, there were no recommendations in relation to the way we operate our Bike Park (including in relation to our safety systems or signage).

“However, notwithstanding this (and partially in response to Iain’s concerns) we have reviewed our signage throughout the park and will be making some changes in the coming weeks/months – this includes the amendment of some trail descriptions.”

He said Kate Ganner’s injury was “taken very seriously by all staff and the impact has been keenly felt”.

In response to the Ganners’ further concerns that they had had little contact from Woodhill, Harrowfield said: “We were in contact with the family following the accident, however, were advised to hold contact until the WorkSafe investigation was completed (which was comprehensive and was only recently completed).

“We asked WorkSafe to ask the family if they would like to be contacted following the conclusion of their investigation but are unsure if this message was passed on. If the family would like to discuss matters, we would welcome that opportunity.”

Mountainbiking has become an extremely popular sport and pastime in New Zealand over the past two decades, attracting a mix of novice, beginner and experienced riders.

ACC receives thousands of claims annually, with injuries ranging from soft tissue damage – at the lower end of the scale – to fractures, dislocations, lacerations, concussions and dental injuries.

While the number of claims has been falling over the past five years, the total ACC cost of those injuries has been steadily rising.

According to ACC, there have been fewer than four deaths in each of the past five years.

However, the death of a mountain bike rider in Rotorua in November 2022 prompted a coronial inquiry and a recent report, in which coroner Ian Telford called for the mountain bike industry to collectively identify the best trail grading standards for national adoption – across all settings, including trails on private land.

Telford said mountain biking was increasingly enjoyed by mainstream users, which brought additional, new challenges.

“I consider this heightens the importance of ensuring track grading and maintenance meets the expectations of users and provides a safe experience.”

Kate Ganner’s accident in February last year was the most serious at Woodhill since 2009, Bike Parks Ltd told WorkSafe.

Then, in January this year, a rider died at the park.

Police have been investigating and say their inquiries are ongoing.

Harrowfield said his company had been devastated by both accidents.

“The police released the scene after their initial attendance and WorkSafe has not opened an investigation into the fatality,” said Harrowfield.

“Out of respect to the fallen rider and his family, we decided to keep the trail closed for over a month and then removed the feature that we believe he was riding prior to re-opening.

“This is also consistent with our “hotspot” methodology which is to remove/change features where the level of seriousness of an injury (or fatality) suggests that a change is appropriate.”

During summer, the Herald met Kate Ganner for the first time at Takapuna’s Beach Café. As we fought off sparrows trying to nip at morning tea, and as Morgan and Fionn swam in the ocean nearby, she said: “I am just so pleased it wasn’t one of the boys.”

That’s one of the reasons the Ganners are speaking publicly – to raise safety awareness and to try to avoid anyone else experiencing the ordeal they continue to endure.

The couple say they have considered legal options.

“I just think it will stir it up. We are trying to get on with our lives. I mean, it’s the reason why I’m in a wheelchair but we just need to move forward. It’s happened – it’s s***,” says Kate.

“We can’t sit on this day; we can’t live on the fifth of February for the rest of our lives.”

Kate had just started work as an events manager at Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand when the accident happened – she can’t speak highly enough of how the business has looked after her, keeping her role open and genuinely concerned about her wellbeing. She is looking forward to returning to limited hours soon.

The Ganner family is grateful to the community, family and friends who have rallied in support of them.

“I don’t need to look far to find inspiration,” says Iain Ganner.

“Kate is truly extraordinary, as [are] our sons. Ultimately, as [friend] Lincoln Barrett said, our boys will be more compassionate and the best example of their environment and our household.

“There is a lot to look forward to, with a few setbacks on the way. We’ve had them more than a few times. I am the luckiest man alive to call her my wife.”

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.