A large-scale search operation has been launched in remote south-west Tasmania for an overdue bushwalker.
The 27-year-old man set off on a multi-day hike along the Eastern Arthurs Traverse from the Huon River Campground last Tuesday at around 2pm.
Search Controller Ben Cunningham said police were alerted to his disappearance at 4pm on Monday after a friend reported he was overdue and had not been in touch since Friday.
“The man had told friends he was planning to finish [the walk] near West Picton Road on Saturday or Sunday, but has not been in contact as planned,” he said.
“Initial checks were undertaken yesterday and aerial searches began this morning once weather conditions allowed.”
A ground search crew of four police officers, two wilderness paramedics and four SES volunteers is being deployed to the far-south area this afternoon.
Cunningham said while the man is believed to be an experienced bushwalker, he is not thought to have taken a personal locator beacon into the wilderness with him, an item police say saved the lives of a family who ventured out into the snow last week.
The Eastern Arthurs Traverse is a challenging multi-day hike for “physically capable and highly experienced walkers” that takes six to nine days to complete.
Parks and Wildlife say those tackling the walk must be “confident with navigation, cliffs and rock scrambling, pack hauling and extreme weather”.
“The challenges of this walk are not to be underestimated. It should be completed by walkers with significant experience in remote, alpine conditions,” their website warns.
More on this story: Body of missing New Zealand bushwalker found in Tasmania’s far south-west
Note to readers: Police have since confirmed the man is a New Zealand national who was living in Melbourne, not New South Wales as they had previously reported.
