"We are delighted to have found himuninjured," Wanaka Police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said. "With the weather deteriorating rapidly and more snow expected tonight, it could well have been a different outcome."
Wanaka Police and search and rescue volunteers started searching this morning after the 18-year-old from Lyon failed to return to Wanaka by late yesterday.
A helicopter search found ski touring tracks above the Minaret Burn and he was located walking out back to his car.
"This is a good outcome, but we would want to emphasise that if you're going into the back country we would strongly urge you to carry a personal locator beacon, " Sergeant Nicholson said.
A post from French skier Tom Gratadour's Instagram account last December. Below, he lands the first double backflip ever landed on a Freeride Junior Tour competition in 2015 at the French Freeride Series in Evolution 2 Les Arcs!
First double backflip ever landed on a Freeride Junior Tour competition. Tom Gratadour absolutely sent it at the French Freeride Series in Evolution 2 Les Arcs!
