Two climbers, including a Japanese, have died on a mountain in New Zealand after being trapped for two nights in high winds.

Police identified them Monday as 31-year-old Hiroki Ogawa of Japan and 29-year-old Nicole Sutton of New Zealand.

The pair were part of a group of four climbers who reached the summit of Mount Taranaki on Saturday before encountering bad weather on the descent. The other two climbers made it to safety after spending one night on the mountain.

Police say Ogawa and Sutton dug themselves into the snow as best they could and had been texting them until Sunday night. But poor conditions prevented rescuers from reaching the pair until early Monday morning.