An Australian and two Germans missing on New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki (Mount Cook), are believed to have died.

Two helicopters failed to find any evidence of the three climbers on Thursday morning, police said.



“The situation is grim. It was hoped that if they had survived the storm they would have been spotted from the air today,” police said in a statement on Thursday.



“It is still unknown what has occurred to the men, but it is believed that they have perished on the mountain.”



The men’s families have been informed.



Sydney doctor Michael Bishop, 53, and Johann Viellehner, 58, and his son Raphael, 27, from Germany, have not been seen since Monday morning.



All were experienced climbers.



They had planned to climb to the 3,724m summit via the Linda Glacier route, but concerns were raised for their safety when they failed to return from their attempt.



Bad weather hit the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, hampering search efforts.



Police said the search would be re-evaluated, and more aerial searches would be carried out in the coming days in an attempt to locate the climbers’ bodies.



About 30cm of snow has fallen at Plateau Hut with larger amounts settling higher up the mountain.



The Christchurch alpine cliff rescue team has returned home and the Department Conservation rescue team is on standby at Mount Cook village.



Bishop’s son, Joshua, had hoped his father, who had been thwarted in two previous attempts to reach the summit, had been sheltering from the storm in a snow cave.



Earlier this month, experienced mountaineer Stuart Haslett, 28, died in a climbing accident on the peak.



In July, a 44-year-old Australian soldier was killed on Mount Cook after falling down a crevasse during a winter exercise.