A lucky pair of climbers have been rescued from Queenstown's Remarkables Range after spending a night stuck in the cold.
The climbers were caught in the avalance on Tuesday but avoided being buried and weren't injured.
They were able to move a short distance away but were unable to move further due to avalance danger, and notified police they needed rescuing.
Police said a rescue helicopter was sent out but two attempts to rescue the pair were prevented by poor weather conditions.
The climbers, who police said were experienced and well-equipped, were then told to dig a snow cave and shelter overnight.
"On Wednesday morning the helicopter with Alpine Rescue Team aboard tried again to reach the pair but weather conditions made this impossible," a police statement said.
"The helicopter was able to land the Alpine Rescue Team 1.2km away and 300m below the climbers' position."
Police said the Alpine Rescue team was able to make their way through the difficult conditions and reached the climbers just after 10:45am on Wednesday.
"Shortly after this the weather conditions had cleared sufficiently for a helicopter to reach the party and extract all back to Queenstown," the statement said.
"The climbers were shaken by the event and felt that there was no way they could have made it off the mountain unassisted, due to the dangerous avalanche conditions."
