Wellington: A Japanese climber died just hours before a helicopter came to rescue him and a companion trapped for six days by a fierce storm near the summit of New Zealand's highest mountain, police said.
Mountain guide Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49, died on the 3,754 metre (12,316 feet) high Mount Cook early Friday, while his client Hideaki Nara, 51,was rescued several hours later.
Police Inspector Dave Gaskin said rescuers had brought Nara and the body of Ikenouchi out when weather improved enough to allow a helicopter to reach the peak of the mountain, also known as Aoraki.
Ikenouchi is the 69th climber and the seventh Japanese known to have died on Mount Cook, which attracts climbers from around the world to the Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island.
The pair, both from Tokyo, had been trapped in a tent near the summit since last Saturday as storms lashed the mountain.
Police and officials said Nara was in "remarkably good" condition despite suffering frostbite to his face, nose and ears during the ordeal.
Richard McNamara, regional manager for the Department of Conservation, said the pair's tent had apparently collapsed on Thursday night due to the weight of snow.
Nara was able to walk to the helicopter when it landed nearby just after dawn on Friday morning after enduring temperatures as cold as minus 20 degrees celsius.
"Mr. Nara was in surprisingly good condition. He s had some frostbite to the face but other than that there doesn t appear to be any other injuries," McNamara told Radio New Zealand.
Earlier attempts to rescue the climbers by helicopter had to be abandoned because of fierce winds gusting up to 130 kilometres (81 miles) an hour.
"The weather was just so bad over the last five days at that altitude, we are talking 3,500 metres, it is right on limit in terms of being able to mount the kind of operation we achieved today," McNamara said.
