Of Life and Death

Christchurch Press photographer John Kirk-Anderson’s image of a helicopter about to rescue Japanese climber Hideaki Nara, 51, from Mt Aoraki’s Empress Plateau, features in the SF Gate’s ‘Day in Pictures’. The caption reads: “Joy and sorrow at 12,000 feet: Kiyoshi Nara waits to be plucked from a ledge near the top of New Zealand’s Mount Cook after bad weather trapped the pair for a week. His companion, Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49, died only hours before the helicopter arrived.”