Police said the recovery team, made up of staff from Police and Alpine Cliff Rescue, headed out at again 6am this morning and located the second climber shortly after 8am. Photo / ODT
Police said the recovery team, made up of staff from Police and Alpine Cliff Rescue, headed out at again 6am this morning and located the second climber shortly after 8am. Photo / ODT
The body of the second climber who died after a fall during a tramp on the Remarkables yesterday has been recovered this morning.
Two men died yesterday after falling during a guided tramp on the Remarkables mountain range in Queenstown.
Police named the men as 62-year-old Brett Alexander Lentfer and 44-year-old James Harry Spaile, both of Australia.
Yesterday Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said one man's body had been recovered and police were working to recover the second and notify next of kin.
Police said last night the search for the second body had been called off.
Police said the recovery team, made up of staff from Police and Alpine Cliff Rescue, headed out at again 6am this morning and located the second climber shortly after 8am.
The pair had been roped together while on an Aspiring Guides trip of the Grand Traverse when they fell about 11.45am, he said. ''Inquiries are continuing ... to piece together what's occurred.''
In a statement, police said the pair ''fell from the side of a cliff face''.
Aspiring Guides recently confirmed that the two victims were clients of the company, and was "deeply saddened" about the tragedy.
Vickie Sullivan, the director of the mountain guiding company, said in a statement the team was devastated and they extend their sympathies to the families of the two men.
"Our immediate concern is for the families who have lost their loved ones and to support them in any way we can," said Sullivan.
She said the close-knit climbing community in the region was deeply affected by the incident.
"We are providing support and assistance to our team but have also been overwhelmed at the response from our small NZ mountain and guiding community who have been in touch to pass on their condolences to those most affected and offer assistance where they can."
Alpine Rescue team member Chris Prudden said the area of the incident was ''a very steep mountainside''.
Prudden said he was guiding clients at Lake Alta, just below the traverse, when the incident happened.
He helped with the rescue, providing information to the rescue team in Queenstown.
The traverse was a grade three alpine route, which required a good level of climbing ability.
The company's website describes the Grand Traverse as ''one of the best alpine outings in New Zealand''.
It says the route required ''scrambling'' along an exposed rocky ridge up and over the twin summits of Single Cone and Double Cone and was suitable for ''anyone with some hiking experience and a good head for heights''.
The website recommends, for that particular climb, the ability to complete a 500m-1000m ascent and descent, and six to eight hours' physical activity in a day, carrying packs weighing less than 10kg.
Included in the requirements were ''some familiarities with tying in and belaying'', some mountaineering experience, and familiarities with heights and exposure.
A Queenstown-based Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter with a search and rescue crew on board was asked to respond soon after the call for help arrived.
Helicopters Otago chief pilot Graeme Gale said the machine was on the scene within minutes.
