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Australian Climber Found Alive After Freezing Ordeal on Mountainside

CC0 / / Mountains in New Zealand
Mountains in New Zealand - Sputnik International
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Reports say that the man spent four nights trapped in ice-cold conditions on a mountainside in New Zealand after failing to return from a hike, near Wanaka to the country’s South.

Terry Harch, a 29-yer old Australian, was found on August 2 alive and in “reasonably good condition” after having survived the trial by digging a makeshift shelter in the snow to preserve body warmth.

A member of the local Rescue Coordination Centre, Geoff Lunt, has been quoted by Radio New Zealand as saying that, “we think he dug himself a snow-dug out shelter and that’s helped his survivability over these last few days.”

It was announced that Mr Harch was found, to much surprise, in “reasonably good condition” only suffering from “minor frostbite.” 

According to reports, search-and-rescue teams flagged a signal sent from Harch’s distress beacon at some point on Tuesday, but were prevented from reaching the man by hostile blizzards and thunder.

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However, during a brief spat of good weather on Thursday, the team were able to fly a helicopter around the 9,950 foot Mount Aspiring, where they believed Harch to be stranded, miraculously spotting him on its snow-caked side. Mind-blown rescuers said that it was “extraordinary” that Harch was able to stand and signal to the helicopter after braving days of being battered by 37 mile per hour winds and regular snow storms. The man is now recovering in hospital. 

Mr Harch’s story comes on the heels of a similar incident at the end of July. Russian climber Alexander Gukov, 42, sent out an SOS signal from Latok mountain in Pakistan after his fellow traveler, Sergei Glazunov, 26, fell to his death. Mr Guvok was rescued nearly a week later by Pakistani authorities. 

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