2 Climbers Fall to Their Deaths on New Zealand’s Tallest Mountain, 2 Others Rescued

Two climbers have died and two others have been rescued after an accident on Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak.

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, New Zealand Police announced they were working to recover the bodies of two climbers after a group of four encountered trouble on the mountain, which stands more than 12,000 feet high.

“At around 11:20 p.m. last night Police were made aware of four climbers needing assistance on the west side of the mountain,” officials said in a statement.

A helicopter from Queenstown flew to Wanaka to collect a member of the Department of Conservation Aoraki Search and Rescue team, while another helicopter from Dunedin headed directly to the mountain to begin searching for the group.

According to police, two uninjured climbers were airlifted from Aoraki/Mt. Cook at around 2:15 a.m.

“The two helicopters completed extensive searches throughout the night for the remaining two climbers, as conditions on the mountain were calm and clear, but were unsuccessful,” authorities said.

At around 7:00 a.m., search teams located the bodies of the two missing climbers.

One of those who died was an International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA)-qualified mountain guide and the other was a client, the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association told 1News.

“One climber was seen sliding off the ridge, down the western side of Aoraki and then pulled the second climber, who was attached by a rope, off that same side,” Search and Rescue pilot Nigel Gee told the outlet.

“They both slipped and went possibly about a 1500-foot slide.”

Police said the Rescue Coordination Centre is acting as the lead agency in the recovery effort and that teams are working “in a challenging alpine environment, to recover the two remaining climbers.”

Authorities are also working to contact the climbers’ next of kin, and say no further details about those who died will be released until that process is complete.

Aoraki/Mt. Cook, known for its demanding routes and rapidly changing conditions, is considered New Zealand’s deadliest mountain. According to the New Zealand Herald, 62 people have disappeared on its steep and craggy faces over the years.

In December 2024, American climbers Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, went missing on the same peak, which rises roughly 130 miles west of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island.