KEY POINTS:
Fears are held for the safety of a party of six Australians after blizzard conditions left them cut off from civilisation somewhere in Mt Cook national park.
Rescuers have been able to pinpoint the location of an emergency beacon activated on the mountain late last night, but bad weather and avalanche risk means they are unlikely to reach it until tomorrow.
Record amounts of snow have fallen in the national park in the last 24 hours.
The party is believed to comprise six Australians, who are known to be in the area and have the older style personal locator beacon that was activated, the Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) said.
But rescuers had not been able to confirm if they were the ones in trouble, and others may be in the area without having given their intentions.
About 2pm, a helicopter determined the beacon was likely to be in the Metelille Glacier area.
"However, the weather closed in again, and the helicopter was forced to return to Mt Cook," RCC spokeswoman Sophie Hazelhurst said.
"Land search and rescue teams are currently unable to get in to the area due to the avalanche risk."
A helicopter and searchers were waiting for the weather to clear at Mt Cook, where heavy snow has been falling and the weather forecast did not predict a break in conditions until dawn tomorrow, Ms Hazelhurst said.
The Australians had recorded their intention to traverse Annette Plateau from Barron Saddle to Mueller Hut, high up on the mountain.
Keith Allen, from the RCC, said the activation of an emergency locator beacon so high up the mountain in such poor weather was a concerning situation.
The only information rescuers had about the Australian party was that they appeared to be well equipped, he told Radio New Zealand.
"They have done the right thing and put their intentions in."
The older-style 121.5 megahertz beacons only give approximate positional information, and are being replaced by 406 MHz beacons in February 2009.
- NZPA
