An Alpine Search and Rescue team will resume the recovery operation to find the body of a rock climber who fell to his death in the South Island.
A 50-year-old man from Canterbury was out climbing with two friends when he slipped and fell 800 metres from a ridge in Homer Saddle in Fiordland National Park on Thursday about 9.30am.
His two friends had to walk out of the area and use the Homer Tunnel satellite phone to alert emergency services, Fairfax reported.
The man was not wearing a harness when he fell.
Te Anau acting Sergeant Steve Heyrick told NZ Newswire the steep and rocky terrain made it difficult for emergency services to get to the man's body.
"It's also covered in mountain grass so when it's wet it's like ice, very slippery."
The weather conditions are cloudy and raining, he said.
The Alpine Search and Rescue team would resume the recovery operation about 8am on Friday.
He says the dead man's two friends had been contacted by Police Victim Support.
The man's name would not be released until next of kin had been contacted.
News home