Low, thick cloud over the Wanaka area prevented the rescue of a missing tramper on Tuesday.
The Australian man in his late 20s failed to return from a three-night trip in the Mt Aspiring National Park on Monday, and authorities were alerted.
Rescue Coordination Centre says a friend of the man alerted police that he was overdue on Tuesday morning, and a rescue beacon was activated shortly after midday.
Authorities say the man left at lunchtime on Friday and planned to climb Mt Aspiring on his own. Police found his car in the car park.
A helicopter carrying an alpine cliff rescue team was dispatched, however bad weather and low cloud in the area prevented the aircraft from landing.
Authorities now expect he will have to spend another night on the mountain.
They say it appears he is moving through the park because the rescue beacon is moving, but they are unable to communicate with him to find out if he is injured.
The helicopter is unable to reach that far up the mountain, so the plan is to drop two alpine cliff rescuers at Aspiring Huts who will spent the night there.
The Rescue Coordination Centre says because of the weather, a helicopter may not take off again until Wednesday afternoon.
Newshub.
