Melbourne hiker’s belongings found as alpine search enters seventh day

Hiking poles and rubbish believed to belong to missing Melbourne bushwalker Hadi Nazari have been found as the search to find him enters its seventh day.

Hiker Hadi Nazari went missing on Boxing Day in Kosciuszko National Park.

Nazari, who is 23 and lives in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Berwick, was last seen by two friends about 2.30pm on Boxing Day as they descended the Hannels Spur Track in Kosciuszko National Park, at the tail end of a multi-day trek near Australia’s highest mountain.

The hiker’s companions say they had arranged to meet at the Geehi campground, but Nazari failed to arrive.

Emergency services began searching for Nazari – an experienced hiker – the evening of December 26, and said on Tuesday there were concerns for his welfare.

On December 27, a multi-agency search began involving police, SES, ambulance and national park officials. On Monday, specialised volunteers were flown into the area and the poles and rubbish were discovered on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, NSW Police’s Jillian Gibson said Nazari’s prior experience as a hiker gave rescuers hope that he would be found safely, despite the remoteness of the track.

Gibson also said Nazari had a reasonable amount of water with him at the time and adequate clothing.

Nazari’s sister, Zahra Nazari, told Nine News earlier this week that her brother texted her on Christmas Day to say he would return by Boxing Day. She described his absence as the “biggest trauma” of her life.

“I just look at his pictures all the time, I pray to God that he comes back ... soon,” she said.

“They were supposed to come back [Boxing Day] … so he didn’t have a lot of food in his bag, just [a] bottle of water.”

Keith Scott, a guide who has trekked the Hannels Spur Track dozens of times over two decades, said the path was last thoroughly cleared of overgrown vegetation in the 2018-19 summer. He said bushland on the western side of the Snowy Mountains was now dense, making navigation difficult in places.

“It’s incredibly steep, and the undergrowth is incredibly thick,” Scott said. “So it just means that energy reserves are used up pretty quickly when you’re trying to push your way through.”

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a high of 20 degrees in Kosciuszko National Park on Thursday. Temperatures topped 30 degrees on Wednesday afternoon before falling to about 8 degrees on Thursday morning.

Nazari is described as Asian in appearance, with a slim build and is about 172 centimetres. He was wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt, grey pants and carrying a blue backpack when he went missing.

The Hannels Spur Track, pictured in autumn. Credit: Keith Scott

In Tasmania, three bushwalkers recently died in less than a week from Christmas Day, including a 30-year-old Victorian who fell while hiking at Federation Peak in Tasmania’s south-west on Monday morning.

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