Missing climber rescued thanks to GPS

The men were missing on Mt Taranaki but thankfully could use GPS to signal rescue services and each other. Photo / File

A climber who was reported missing on Mt Taranaki last night has been rescued in the early hours of this morning.

A New Plymouth police spokesman said the climber had come down from the mountain at 1.45am with a search party. He was one of two men reported missing yesterday evening.

The two men were lost in different places but thanks to modern technology one was easy to locate, police Inspector Ross Grantham said last night.

About 6.30pm one of the two reported himself lost "quite a long way up" the mountain.
Searchers have been able to get a good fix on his position thanks to a free mobile location app, developed by a LandSAR member.

After the missing man called authorities, they sent a text back to his phone and found exactly where he is, using GPS technology.

Unfortunately for him, he's above the clouds, so cannot be reached by helicopter.

The second man reported himself lost shortly before 4pm, Mr Grantham said.

"We've got two separate operations going to locate them. They are both currently safe."

Mr Grantham said since making the calls for help, both men had done the right thing by staying put and waiting for help to arrive.