Police and Department of Conservation (DoC) staff this morning recovered the bodies of three climbers who died in the Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park on Wednesday.
Calm and clear weather conditions finally allowed for the recovery operation to take place, bringing closure to the tragedy.
Erica Jane Beuzenberg -- a 41-year-old guide from Fairlie in Southern Canterbury, Briton John Lowndes, 59, and Kazuhiro Kotani, 29, from Japan, died after one of the tourists slipped as they crossed Ball Pass. They were dragged down an icy slope and over a cliff.
DoC rescue team member Ray Bellringer said a helicopter lifted the bodies to a safe landing zone before flying them off the mountain.
"Some fresh snow had fallen overnight, but this didn't affect the recovery operation," he said.
Mr Bellringer said police had advised that the next of kin and the Japanese Consulate and British High Commission had been notified of the successful recovery.
The operation took three hours and involved three DoC staff and four police officers.
The incident would be examined by a coroner, police said.
Mr Bellringer said earlier that the team knew how hard the recovery delay was for the climbers' families, but from a safety perspective, waiting for good weather conditions was vital.
- NZPA
Bodies of climbers recovered
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