A missing climber will be stranded on Mt Cook for another night.
Bad weather today hampered the attempt to rescue Stephen Dowall, 52, who has been missing since Thursday, and the search has been called off till tomorrow.
Twizel police said the weather was terrible, with strong winds and rain at Mt Cook village and heavy snow falling in the upper reaches of the national park.
Incident controller, Constable Joe Rush, said a small break in the weather allowed two flights yesterday but searchers could not reach Mr Dowall's last-known position.