A 26-year-old man was admitted to Lakes District Hospital having sustained a pelvis and chest injuries in the avalanche — his climbing partner, in his mid-to-late 20s, was checked at the hospital but discharged.
Sergeant Terry Wood, of Queenstown, said emergency services were alerted just before 8am after one of the men called 111 from a cell phone.
An Otago Helicopter was deployed, as was a Heli Glenorchy machine with the Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue (WACR) team onboard.
The pair was located the pair about 2500m up the mountain, on its east face.
Sgt Wood said the pair from Auckland set out from the Esquilant Biv at 4.30am, intending to summit Mt Earnslaw’s 2819m peak.
Aaron Halstead, of WACR, said the men were "really lucky".
A recent storm had resulted in "summer storm slab snow" on Mt Earnslaw, which is what the men had triggered.
The pair stopped where two crevasses met - on either side there were "quite large" crevasse holes, he said.
"If they'd ended up in either one of those, it probably would have been a different outcome."
Sgt Wood said while the men had personal locator beacons (PLB), ‘‘they were at home’’.
Fortunately, in the area where they came to rest there was a ‘‘small pocket’’ of reception, enabling them to call for help.
Mr Halstead said it was crucial people exploring the outdoors carried a PLB.
He said it was "absolutely incredible" the men landed in a spot with cellphone coverage — 100m above and below them, there was none.
‘‘If they didn’t [have service] they would have had to walk, probably, 10 to 12 hours to get back to the Muddy Creek car park.’’
His advice for others: ‘‘Just take a PLB’’.
‘‘They’re the size of a bloody matchbox now, just take one with you.’’
Mr Halstead said it was also vital people remembered avalanches were not just a winter hazard, but a summer phenomenon as well.
