No word from Mt Cook climbers

Rescuers were today still waiting to hear from two climbers who spent Friday night on Mt Cook/Aoraki in sub-zero temperatures.

The European men, both in their 20s, activated their emergency beacon on Friday afternoon with one of them reportedly suffering from hypothermia, but rescuers could not reach them because of bad weather.

The pair was spotted by a rescue helicopter at about 10.15am yesterday and gave the thumbs up sign, indicating they were in good shape.

They were expected to reach a Department of Conservation hut last night and make contact but the Rescue Coordination Centre had still not heard from them this morning.

"We hope that we will hear from them when they get back into cellphone range or somebody else from the mountain sees them," centre spokeswoman Sophie Hazelhurst said.

"If we get any indication that they are not safe, we've got assets waiting to get them if we need to."

The two men were climbing in a popular section of Middle Peak at 3500 metres.

The men were well equipped with sleeping bags and other survival gear.

- NZPA