Two Australian climbers who died in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand have been named.
Stuart Jason Hollaway, 42, and his partner Dale Amanda Thistlethwaite, 35, both from Melbourne were named on Saturday afternoon.
The pair had been travelling and climbing in New Zealand since early   December 2015.
Mid-South Canterbury area Commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said Mr Hollaway was a highly respected and experienced mountain guide, and Ms Thistlethwaite was an experienced climber. 
"His name was well-known in climbing circles and he's done a lot of climbing throughout New Zealand," he said.
A friend of the couple would have to formally identify the bodies.
It took four rescuers over two hours to recover the bodies of the two climbers, from the bottom of a steep face on the eastern slopes of Mount Silberhorn on Friday.
The couple had been missing since   December 28 in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
Four rescuers from the Aoraki/Mount Cook alpine rescue team left to recover the bodies of the climbers on Friday at 6pm and returned at 8.30pm.
Inspector Gaskin said the man and woman, who were both experienced and capable mountaineers, were last heard from in a radio call on   December 28.
Enquiries indicated that the pair fell from near the top of the mountain early on   December 29.
The rescue team had to wait until late in the day on Friday to minimise the risk from melting ice.
"There is always an element of danger when operating below a helicopter in precarious conditions, but these guys train pretty hard and they do a lot of good work in minimising the risk and it's paid off," he said.
The rescue operation was carried out with a member of the rescue team attached on a long-line.
"He was taken to the scene, which was obviously incredibly steep, and he managed to excavate the bodies and attach them to the line and they flew them both out together," Commander Inspector Gaskin said. 
"The major difficulty was the amount of debris that was floating off the mountain."
The matter would now be referred to the coroner.
The pair were camping high in the mountain, and Commander Inspector Gaskin said it was clear that they had fallen "a considerable distance".
"They've fallen very close to the place they were camping.
"They were roped together, so one of them's come to grief and the other one has fallen with them."
Recovery was halted earlier in the day on Friday due to the amount of debris, rock, and ice falling off the mountain. The team had hoped that when the sun left the face of the mountain, a recovery operation could be attempted.
Commander Inspector Gaskin said it was a "typical accident" for high-altitude climbs, where the margin of error was very small.
"It's sad.
"The climbing community will be dismayed that this has happened."
The deaths mark the first of 2016 in the national park, but the third and fourth respectively since late   November.
Melbourne woman Nicola Anne Andrews, 29, fell 300 metres in the Aoraki-Mount Cook National Park, near the peak of the Footstool mountain, on   December 23.
A rescue helicopter was sent from Christchurch and airlifted her to the Aoraki-Mount Cook search and rescue base where she received medical treatment, but she later died of her injuries.
Stephen Dowall, a South Canterbury-raised United Nations worker based in Myanmar, also died after failing to reach the Empress Hut, at the head of the Hooker Glacier, in poor conditions in late   November.
Stuff reporters