Wanaka Search and Rescue volunteers helped extricate two Aucklanders from the head of the remote Arawhata Valley in the western reaches of Mt Aspiring National Park yesterday afternoon.
The man and woman, understood by police to be in their late 20s, activated their emergency beacon after they got stuck in "some pretty steep, rugged terrain", Constable Mike Thomas said.
A LandSAR crew of three alpine cliff specialists was flown in by helicopter to retrieve the trampers from the pair's isolated location, Const Thomas said.
Low clouds and high winds meant the helicopter was unable to fly straight over the Main Divide. Instead, the crew was forced to come in from the direction of Haast.
The pair were found safe and well. They had discovered they had "underestimated" the skills they needed in that remote area of wilderness, Const Thomas said.
