Fatalities in NSW snowfields

Three people have died on a day of tragedy in the NSW snowfields yesterday.

An avalanche buried one skier under near Mount Kosciuszko about 1pm, triggering a large search and rescue operation while in separate incidents two other skiers hit trees on slopes at Perisher Blue.

The avalanche victim was a 22-year-old from Wentworth Falls. He had been skiing with four others in a remote area five kilometres from Charlotte Pass in the Kosciuszko National Park, and was buried under five metres of hardened snow.

His companions escaped and raised the alarm which led to rescue attempts by emergency teams. However, by 5.45pm, the search teams uncovered the body of the victim, a police spokesman confirming that a "body of a man has been found in Kosciuszko National Park following an extensive search and rescue operation this afternoon."

Earlier yesterday, a 59-year-old man from St Ives, skiing a run called Outer Limits at Blue Cow, slammed into a tree and died at the scene. And as emergency personnel rushed to rescue the avalanche victim, another man died in Sun Valley at Perisher. The 48-year-old Jindabyne man had negotiated the Olympic run, regarded as challenging for experienced skiers, but lost control at the bottom and struck a tree.

Meanwhile, four of the six Australian climbers rescued after being trapped by heavy snow on New Zealand's highest peak for 36 hours have returned to Sydney.

Terry Cole, Melissa Clerke, Gerald Osman and Jennie Landon were rescued on Saturday morning after being trapped in a blizzard on Mount Cook.