The search for the body of missing Canadian bushwalker Prabhdeep Srawn has resumed in the Kosciuszko National Park, more than six months after the 25-year-old went missing.
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Coordinated by New South Wales Police, the search comes a week before 18 volunteers arrive from Canada to help locate the Bond University law student and army reservist.
Mr Srawn was last seen on May 13 when he parked a rental car in the Charlotte Pass Village before setting out in fine conditions to hike near Australia's two highest peaks, Mt Kosciuszko and Mt Townsend.
His disappearance was reported a week later, prompting a large air and land search over two weeks.
The 30-person search was abandoned on June 1 ahead of heavy winter snowfall.
Mr Srawn's cousin Ruby Singh said on Monday the family was realistic about the likely outcome, but was grateful for the resources allocated by authorities.
"Obviously this has been a very difficult time and it has been very hard on all of us," she said. "We’re hoping that they will be able to hopefully find Prabh soon and we can put this behind us.
"We have been trying our best to look at things from many different angles and talk to experts. We still don’t have the concrete answer and we are trying to get that."
She said a week-long small scale search could be followed by a larger operation.
"We’ve put together a team of volunteers and we were hoping to deploy them after the police search was over and resolved but unfortunately the police search had to be delayed so some of it is going to overlap, to begin next week."
Following his disappearance, Mr Srawn’s family spent in excess of $50,000 to bring a four-man Canadian search and rescue team to the area, assisted by local volunteers.
The family offered a reward for anyone who helped find Mr Srawn, before withdrawing it on the advice of authorities.
Trained in survival skills, it is unclear what supplies Mr Srawn had for a trek that is usually completed within a day.
Mr Srawn’s sister Mandeep Srawn later found his laptop in the rental car, revealing his likely route towards Mount Townsend, north-west of Mount Kosciuszko and a short distance off the Main Range walk.
He left in fine, mild conditions but is thought to have been exposed as a cold front and blizzard hit the area, dumping at least 30 centimetres of snow and covering pathways.
A 1999 search for four missing snowboarders in the national park was also called off, and their bodies were found four months later in the melted snow cave.