Man falls through ice shelf on Mount Rolleston

At about 5 pm in the afternoon of Saturday the 12th of September a skier/climber got into difficulty as he and a friend were descending from the Low Peak of Mount Rolleston.

The 19 year old fell through an ice shelf and out of sight, the friend attempted to dig through the snow to where he thought he may have been for 2 hours without success, before walking back to Arthurs Pass and alerting Police.

Today an Alpine Cliff Rescue at Arthurs Pass team could not attempt a search due to the extreme and unstable conditions on this area of the mountain. There have been many avalanches and snow flurries covering the search area, this has been made worse by the recent rain and warm sunny conditions.

The Mount Cook Rescue Team has arrived at Arthurs Pass and are currently assessing the situation. A decision will then be made on further action to be taken.

There is no further information available at this time.