Mt Cook National Park Photo: 123rf
An injured solo climber has been rescued after spending the night on top of Boys Glacier in Mount Cook National Park.
Maritime New Zealand said the man set off his personal locator beacon on Thursday night after he was injured in a fall.
Senior search and rescue officer Keith Allen said bad weather and nightfall meant a rescue team could not get to the man until Friday morning, despite concerns about hypothermia and frostbite.
Communications with the man, aged in his 30s, confirmed he was cold and wet but was able to shelter in a sleeping bag for the night.
A helicopter was sent up on Friday morning and managed to rescue the man who was not seriously injured.
"Weather complicated the operation with low cloud hanging around below the climber, who was at about 6000 feet altitude," Allen said.
"The climber's shelter had been compromised during the night and he and his all of belongings had become completely saturated. However, the team was able to reach him and he was successfully rescued when weather allowed on Friday morning."
Department of Conservation (DOC) Search and Rescue project lead Scotty Barrier said a helicopter was able to nose into the steep terrain so rescuers could jump out, rope together and traverse to the climber to extract him from a dangerous location which was in a potential avalanche path.
"The climber did the right thing by using the DOC intentions system at the visitor centre, which meant staff had a good idea of his itinerary."
Barrier said it was also helpful that he was carrying a personal locator beacon "which is vital equipment for those heading into the mountains".
