15 Sep 2013

Body of British climber recovered from Mt Cook

10:08 pm on 15 September 2013

Rescuers have recovered the body of a climber who fell 600 metres while climbing to the Mount Sefton Bivvy on Mount Cook on Saturday night.

He was one of two men who died on Saturday in two separate incidents.

Police say rescuers recovered the body of a British man aged in his early thirties on Sunday afternoon.

They say he had been living and working in Christchurch, and the British Consulate is helping to contact his family.

The three remaining members of the climbing group spent a cold night on the mountain before they were rescued on Sunday morning.

They have been checked by medical staff, but none of them were injured.

In the other incident, a man fell almost 200 metres down an icy gully on Mt Cook while approaching the Tasman Saddle Hut. He was a New Zealander, 36, living in Melbourne.