Woman climber dies on Mitre Peak

An Easter climb went tragically wrong for a pair of climbers yesterday when a woman died near the top of Mitre Peak in Fiordland National Park.

The woman's male companion waited on the mountain for hours for help because there was too much cloud for a rescue helicopter to reach him.

The circumstances of the death were not clear last night but it was believed the woman might have fallen.

Rescue services were alerted to the pair's plight by a distress beacon shortly before midday but it was close to 5pm before a helicopter could reach them about 1300m up the mountain, said a spokeswoman for the Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

The man, who is believed to be a New Zealander, was flown to Te Anau, where he remained last night.

A local doctor said he was distressed but physically unhurt.

Sophie Hazelhurst of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre said when the distress signal arrived a helicopter from Southern Lakes Helicopters in Te Anau was sent to investigate.

But there was too much cloud and the pilot had to return to Milford. The helicopter reached the climbers about 4.45pm.

"They found one person deceased and one climber and they've flown the climber back to Te Anau," she said.

In 2002 a German climber, 27-year-old Jonas Thiess, was killed on Mitre Peak when he fell 200m or 300m after splitting from his party and going back up the mountain to retrieve his hat.

Mr Thiess was an experienced climber but a coroner's report in 2003 found his concentration might have been affected because he used cannabis the night before he died.