Police have called for teams of search dogs and rescue helicopters to be sent to Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest peak at 3,754 metres (12,388 feet), which has been described as a playground for adrenaline junkies and attracts thousands of visitors from around the world each year.

"We were told several people were believed to be in the avalanche area," Gail Adams of Christchurch-based Garden City Rescue Helicopter said.

Media reports said at least six people were unaccounted for.

Dunedin-based Lion Foundation rescue helicopter pilot Stuart Farquhar said he had been told the avalanche was at a height of 2,800 metres.

"I believe search and rescue teams with dogs are being sent into there area," he said.

Mt Cook, in New Zealand's Southern Alps, has claimed a heavy toll since it was first scaled 99 years with more than 200 people killed.

This month alone four Latvian climbers fell to their deaths near the summit and there have been seven other search and rescue operations on the mountain.

TERRA.WIRE