KEY POINTS:
His face caked in snow and ice, Hideaki Nara clambered out of his makeshift cave and managed a faint smile as he realised his week-long ordeal trapped on New Zealand's highest peak was finally over.
After several days of sub-zero temperatures, fierce winds and dehydration, and finally lying helpless as his climbing companion succumbed to the elements, he staggered to the helicopter he had watched fly past without stopping when it finally came to take him off Aorangi/Mt Cook yesterday.
His tent and sleeping bag having blown away, the 51-year-old had dug himself into the snow and huddled in his thick clothing for shelter from temperatures around - 25C.
Rescuers thwarted all week by the conditions could see only his top half as the rescue helicopter landed nearby about 6am. But that was enough.
Mr Nara waved as the helicopter hovered nearby and he slowly trudged the few metres through the fresh layer of snow on a flat patch on the slope about 5m wide and 20m long.
"He was very quiet. He never said anything," said Alpine Rescue Team member Dave Winterburn, who sat with Mr Nara in the helicopter.
"I think he was still in shock. I think he was really relieved, in fact I know he was really relieved."
Helicopter pilot Nigel Gee said: "He almost looked like he was smiling. He needs a medal actually."
As they flew him back to Mt Cook Village for nourishment and medical treatment for the cold and frostbite to his face and hands, Mr Winterburn said "basically we are just reassuring him we have got him".
The cold was such at the rescue site, at 3700m, that Mr Winterburn was feeling the effects after just 10 minutes.
The rescue effort came just a few hours too late for Mr Nara's climbing companion and close friend, Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49.
The last time the two climbers spoke was about 1am yesterday. Mr Ikenouchi's body was retrieved about an hour after the rescue of Mr Nara, who was flown to Christchurch Hospital, where he was in a "comfortable condition" yesterday.
Mr Ikenouchi's body was flown to Timaru for a post mortem examination.
Senior Constable Brent Swanson said it was a harsh reality that rescuers could not get there sooner to save Mr Ikenouchi.
"It's the nature of the mountains and where they were is a very difficult place to rescue anyone from. You expect optimum conditions before you put staff at risk. We are comfortable with our decisions that we made during the week. The outcome isn't100 per cent but it's 50 per cent."
Mr Ikenouchi was no stranger to New Zealand's harsh alpine environments. He had previously climbed mountains including Mt Cook, and in 2004 was part of a rescue team assisting when two compatriots were hit by an avalanche on Mt Aspiring. One climber died then, too.
The well-equipped pair made slow progress after setting out on their mountain expedition last week, and were camping out when it appears the weather closed in and trapped them near the mountain's Summit Ridge.
They were unaware of a pack dropped near the tent by helicopter containing supplies and a radio.
The pair both have their own families in Tokyo, and it is understood relatives may travel to New Zealand.
Mark Inglis, who lost his legs to frostbite after he and Phil Doole spent two weeks trapped in a similar area on the mountain 26 years ago, said he could sympathise with how Mr Nara was feeling.
"It just illustrates how fine a knife-edge you are on in the mountains."
