Eight elderly mountaineers who went missing in Japan's Northern Alps following a snowstorm were confirmed dead on Saturday after some of them were evacuated by helicopter, police said.

A group of six climbers in their 60s and 70s were spotted early Saturday after they collapsed near Mount Korenge in central Nagano prefecture, a police spokesman said.

The climbers, who went missing Friday on their way to the 2,932-metre (9,676-foot) Shiroumadake Peak, were transported by helicopter to a nearby village but were later confirmed dead, he said.

The spokesman also confirmed the death of a 62-year-old woman who was found unconscious near Jiigatake Peak, south of Mount Korenge.

Another 71-year-old man died of hypothermia after he made an emergency call for rescue after being stuck in bad weather near Karasawa Peak, south of Jiigatake Peak.

Climbers are rushing to the Northern Alps during the nation's "Golden Week" spring holidays in late April and early May as a climbing season in the region just begins.