The search for a missing 23-year-old Central Otago hunter in the Mt Aspiring National Park is continuing, with more teams of searchers deployed this morning as phase two of the operation.
Police and LandSAR Wanaka teams are searching in the Rob Roy area of the West Matukituki Valley after an overnight search using night vision equipment failed to locate any trace of the missing man.
Three teams, 10 people in total, including tracking and alpine cliff rescue specialists, were deployed at dawn.
The alarm was raised late last night after the man, who had been hunting chamois, failed to return from his solo trip as planned.
The focus search area is in the upper Rob Roy Valley and the southern face of Homestead Peak. This is based on the missing person's intentions that were left with family members prior to starting his trip on Friday. He was expected to return from his trip late yesterday afternoon.
Senior Constable Mike Johnston, of Wanaka police, said the terrain was ''extremely difficult and hazardous''.
''At this stage we are searching likely points, looking for any sign of the missing man, and seeking to eliminate as many possibilities as possible.
