The search for a climber missing on Aoraki/Mt Cook is unlikely to resume for a week due to treacherous snow conditions on the mountain.
A specialist alpine search and rescue team is now waiting for around 40cm of snow to thaw before making a fresh bid to find missing climber Stephen Dowall.
The 52-year-old United Nations worker was last seen alive on Thursday before he became separated from his climbing companion Rob Hawes in blizzard-like conditions.
At the time, the pair were heading towards Empress Hut at the head of the Hooker Glacier after leaving Mt Cook Village earlier that day.
Mr Dowall failed to reach the hut.
Aerial searches have so far failed to find any sign of the missing climber.
Mid-South Canterbury police area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said today the alpine rescue teams would not be put on the mountain until it was safe.
That meant any chance of mounting a ground search for Mr Dowall would take days.
"We're not carrying out any search today as nothing has changed in regard to the snow conditions," said Mr Gaskin.
"Even if there's good weather it's going to take up to a week for the snow to melt."
Conditions underfoot in the search area were perilous with deep crevasses hidden by snowdrifts.
There was also increased risk of avalanches.
On top of the challenging conditions, any tracks that may have been left by the missing man were likely to have disappeared during the recent storm, Mr Gaskin said.
Search teams were now back at Mt Cook Village waiting for conditions to improve.
