This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/01/mount-cook-search-resumes-australian-german-climbers

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Mount Cook search resumes for Australian and German climbers as weather clears Climbers missing on Mount Cook feared dead, New Zealand police say
(35 minutes later)
Helicopters have taken to the skies above Aoraki (Mount Cook) as the search resumes for an Australian and two German climbers missing for three days on New Zealand’s highest mountain. An Australian and two Germans missing on New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki (Mount Cook), are believed to have died.
The weather cleared on Thursday morning to allow two helicopters, and search and rescue teams to begin combing the mountain for the trio. Two helicopters failed to find any evidence of the three climbers on Thursday morning, police said.
Experienced climbers Michael Bishop, 53, from Sydney, and Johann Viellehner, 58, and his son Raphael, 27, from Germany, have not been seen since Monday morning. “The situation is grim. It was hoped that if they had survived the storm they would have been spotted from the air today,” police said in a statement on Thursday.
They had planned to climb to the 3,724m summit via the Linda Glacier route but concerns were raised for their safety when bad weather hit. “It is still unknown what has occurred to the men, but it is believed that they have perished on the mountain.”
Bishop was keen to reach the summit after two previous failed attempts, his family in Sydney said. The men’s families have been informed.
He was an experienced, well-prepared climber, and had previously survived an alpine snowstorm by making a snow shelter, his son Joshua told NZME. Sydney doctor Michael Bishop, 53, and Johann Viellehner, 58, and his son Raphael, 27, from Germany, have not been seen since Monday morning.
He believed his father had decided to climb with the Viellehners after meeting them at Plateau Hut. All were experienced climbers.
“I have complete confidence the three of them would have put their heads together and said: ‘Let’s find a cave, let’s make something to stay warm’,” Joshua Bishop said. They had planned to climb to the 3,724m summit via the Linda Glacier route, but concerns were raised for their safety when they failed to return from their attempt.
Johann Viellehner has previously climbed in Europe and Russia, and is described as experienced. Bad weather hit the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, hampering search efforts.
All three are considered extremely fit, but searchers were very concerned for their safety and hoped the trio had dug themselves in somewhere to shelter from the storm. Police said the search would be re-evaluated, and more aerial searches would be carried out in the coming days in an attempt to locate the climbers’ bodies.
About 30cm of snow has fallen at Plateau Hut with larger amounts settling higher up the mountain.
The Christchurch alpine cliff rescue team has returned home and the Department Conservation rescue team is on standby at Mount Cook village.
Bishop’s son, Joshua, had hoped his father, who had been thwarted in two previous attempts to reach the summit, had been sheltering from the storm in a snow cave.
Earlier this month, experienced mountaineer Stuart Haslett, 28, died in a climbing accident on the peak.
In July, a 44-year-old Australian soldier was killed on Mount Cook after falling down a crevasse during a winter exercise.