At 8 am TV One was saying two climbers have been brought out alive. However, Stuff website quoting the headline
One climber rescued, one found dead
by BECK ELEVEN at Mount Cook Village - The Press Friday, 05 December 2008
LATEST: A Japanese climber rescued from Aoraki/Mt Cook this morning is being airlifted to Christchurch Hospital with frostbite, but his companion has been found dead.
Good weather conditions saw rescuers use a helicopter to pluck one man off the mountain this morning.
The rescue is understood to have been made between 5.30am and 6.10am.
It is understood the second man died during a ferocious storm last night.
Constable Paul Swanson the climber was talking to an interpreter but was very unwell.
The men spent last night in the open as their tent either became buried in snow or blew away, said Inspector Dave Gaskin.
Mountain guide Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49, and Hideaki Nara, 51, both from Tokyo, have spent seven freezing nights 3700 metres up the mountain after gales near the summit prevented earlier rescue attempts.
This is a tragic outcome as it would have been brilliant if the two had of come about alive.
It would probably not have made much difference but it seems they did not know the pack of gear dropped by the tent was there.
ReplyDeleteKia ora Bob,
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with them both. I suppose it will reliven the debate of risk and rewardwho pays, the need to climb mountains, ect. I find myself thinking of Aat Vervoorn for some reason.
Cheers,
Robb