Two injured climbers stranded nearly 2500 metres up Aoraki/Mount Cook have been airlifted to safety, the Department of Conservation says.
Helicopter crews were able to reach the men just before 8.30am on Saturday after they spent four nights hunkered down in Empress hut — beneath the west face of the mountain.
Aoraki Search and Rescue supervisor George Loomes said the men were in good spirits and had been well prepared for a long stay in the mountains.
Loomes praised the efforts of the pilots and crews for the Helicopter Line who managed to reach the men through a short window of good weather in extremely challenging terrain.
Poor weather conditions had meant rescuers were unable to reach the men any earlier.
The Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Rescue Team remained in communication with the men while they were at the hut.
The pair were said to have had enough food and water for an extended day — but it was understood they may have suffered from frostbite.
Bianca Bratton from the Mountain Safety Council was well abreast of the challenging terrain.
“It goes without saying that these areas up in our high alpine are some of the country’s most remote and wild environments so they are particularly volatile,” she told Checkpoint on Friday.
Bratton said the men were in the best place at the hut while they awaited rescue.
The DOC huts “definitely don’t have your creature comforts,” Bratton said, with no shower, comfortable couch or wifi.
But they did have radios, she said.
Frostbite was a big risk in the cold temperatures, Bratton said. It can affect the fingers, toes, nose or other extremities.
rnz.co.nz
