Two skiers spent a night in a makeshift snow cave near Wanaka after weather conditions made continuing their back-country ski tour dangerous.
The young men from Scotland and Germany, who were rescued this morning, are being praised for doing the right thing by deciding to stay in the cave near End Peak, south of Treble Cone, after snow started to fall while they were ski touring late yesterday.
The pair were carrying a rescue beacon, which they set off at 8am today, alerting the Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand to their plight.
Aspiring Helicopters dropped an alpine rescue team at the location and the men were picked up about 10am. Neither was injured.
Wanaka police Search and Rescue coordinator Aaron Nicholson said new snow had filled in the pair's tracks and they decided that the risk of avalanche was too great.
They made the right decision to pull up and stop for the night when the conditions changed, he said.
One of the skiers was carrying a New Zealand-coded personal locator beacon registered to his father in the United Kingdom.
RCCNZ senior search and rescue officer Geoff Lunt said one of the men called his father from the snow cave by satellite phone and let him know they were safe and would stay put.
"Once we received the beacon alert this morning, we made contact with the father using our emergency contact list.''
RCCNZ was able to pass the information on to the Aspiring Helicopter crew, so they knew what to expect when flying into the area.
"These men helped ensure their own safety and rescue by carrying two forms of communication to call for help.''
Mr Lunt said the incident showed the importance of carrying a rescue beacon registered with up-to-date contact details.
