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New Zealand : Mount Cook Claims Another Life
New Zealand's rescue team have not been able to find a missing man 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
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
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kleinadorianat 14:49 on December 13th, 2008
kleinadorian has contributed a photo to this story.
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gregor_ronaldat 09:58 on December 14th, 2008
Zurbriggens Ridge, where the accident happened, starts in the exact centre of this photo and rises directly toward the summit.
gregor_ronald has contributed a photo to this story.
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gregor_ronaldat 10:11 on December 14th, 2008
The missing climber has been presumed dead, though his body has not been located - it probably fell into a crevasse below the ridge. The surviving brother dug into the snow and awaited the rescue team he knew would be dispatched.
See stuff.co.nz for the full story.
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EmmaJGat 12:30 on December 14th, 2008
View of Mount Cook over the valley taken from Mount Cook Rd.
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MAZERAat 16:12 on December 17th, 2008
Beautiful snow-capped Mount Cook in November. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/mazera/ for more.
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