Experienced climbers Stuart Jason Hollaway, 42, and Dale Amanda Thistlethwaite, 35, plummeted to their deaths in New Zealand's Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. The Melbourne couple were last heard from during a radio call on Dec. 28, according to The Guardian.
Authorities said that the Melbourne couple, who had climbed New Zealand's highest peak, Mount Cook, the day before their deaths, were located near the top of the 3300-metre high Mt. Silberhorn, New Zealand's seventh highest mountain, The Sidney Morning Herald reported.
Four days after they went missing, an alpine rescue team had to retrieve the bodies with a rope from a helicopter because of the inaccessible terrain. New Zealand Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said the pair were camping high in the mountain, adding that it was clear that they had fallen "a considerable distance."
"They were roped together, so one of them's come to grief and the other one has fallen with them," he said.
Since their deaths, there's been many tributes made for the East Brunswick couple, according to The Sidney Morning Herald.
Former mountain guide Marty Beare described Hollaway and Thistlethwaite as "tremendous people." "They just seemed to get on so well together, because they had the love of doing the outdoor stuff," he said.
As two of the few Australians to be accredited by the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association, Beare and Hollaway had a special bond. "If you want to be a good mountain guide, you have to be like a sheep dog, you have to look out for other people, and that's what Stu was, he was always caring about other people," he said.
The Melbourne University Mountaineering Club, of which Thistlethwaite and Hollaway were honorary life members, said in a statement that the club had lost "two great friends and mentors". "Dale and Stu we will sorely miss you," it added. "You were admired and loved and the club won't be the same without your stories, quick laugh and passion for the outdoors."
The pair ran a business called Vertical World Mountain Guiding.
