An alpine rescue team's making plans to recover the bodies of two missing climbers in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

They are at the bottom of a steep face on the eastern slopes of Mt Silberhorn.

The experienced climbers were last heard from over a radio call on Monday, before failing to return from their climb.

They were camping high in the mountain, and it's still not known what went wrong.

But Police Area Commander Dave Gaskin says it is clear that they have fallen a considerable distance.

Police say falling rock and ice is stopping them from retrieving the bodies, but they're hoping to reach them later today.