Helicopter rescue Mt Cook, NZ
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Helicopter rescue Mt Cook, NZ
Search and rescue teams have not been able to find a Perth doctor presumed dead after falling from New Zealand's highest peak.
Forty-three-year-old Mark Vinar and his brother Miles were climbing Mount Cook when they got into trouble.
The search for Dr Mark Vinar has been called off and he is presumed dead.
Miles Vinar, 42, dug into the snow and waited for two days for the rescue team to arrive. He was rescued from the peak today by a New Zealand search and rescue team.
When they reached him early this morning, he was uninjured but badly shaken, having watched in horror on Thursday as his older brother fell 500 metres.
The pilot of the rescue helicopter, Nigel Gee, says after rescuing Miles Vinar, he then went back to the spot where Mr Vinar saw his brother fall from a ledge.
"We probably spent an hour or an hour and 15 minutes looking for the other bloke," he said.
"We searched the fall line right down to the bottom and concentrated the search at the bottom.
"There's been a bit of fresh snow, not quite sure how much - maybe 20 or 30 centimetres - so we're not quite sure what's happened to him; to tell the truth, we couldn't find him."
Mr Vinar is resting at Mount Cook Village and has told police he wants to return to Perth tomorrow.
Eighteen Australians have been killed climbing Mount Cook and a Japanese mountain guide died on Mount Cook just over a week ago.
Rescuers cannot find missing WA climber - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
