It is hoped an Australian doctor and a German father and son missing on Aoraki/Mt Cook have dug themselves shelter to sit out a storm hitting the mountain.
The trio are overdue from an attempt on the summit of the country's highest peak.
Searchers believe the weather will remain poor until New Year's Day, preventing a search for the trio from resuming.
Police have named them as Michael Bishop, 53, from Sydney, and Johann Viellehner, 58, and his son Raphael, 27.
Dr Bishop is an experienced mountaineer and has previously climbed in the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park before, police say.
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Rapahel Viellehner has previously climbed in Europe and Russia, and is described as experienced.
All three are extremely fit, says Senior Constable Brent Swanson.
They had been roped together when they left Plateau Hut at 1.30am on Monday to climb to the 3724m summit via the Linda Glacier.
An aircraft was sent up on Tuesday morning, but found no sign of them before being forced back to base by bad weather.
Sen Const Swanson says Wednesday's weather on Mt Cook is very poor with winds clocking 100km/h, and rain and snow down to 1500m.
Searchers were very concerned for their safety, but hope the trio have dug themselves in somewhere and are sheltering from the storm, he told Radio New Zealand.
It was hoped the weather would clear on Thursday, when two helicopters and eight searchers would resume the search.
In July, a 44-year-old Australian soldier was killed on Mt Cook after falling down a crevasse during a winter exercise.
Earlier this month, experienced mountaineer Stuart Haslett, 28, died in a climbing accident on the peak.
More than 230 have been killed in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and 78 of them have died while climbing the peak where Sir Edmund Hillary honed his skills before teaming up with Tenzing Norgay to reach the summit of Mt Everest in 1953.
