Snow in Southland earlier this month. Three hunters had a lucky escape when an avalanche hit their tents in Fiordland yesterday. Photo / Southland District Council
Snow in Southland earlier this month. Three hunters had a lucky escape when an avalanche hit their tents in Fiordland yesterday. Photo / Southland District Council
Three hunters had a "lucky" escape after an avalanche brought snow crashing down on their tents in Fiordland yesterday.
Southern Lakes Helicopter pilot Snow Mullally said the group came into distress about 11pm and set off a personal locator beacon.
"We went out there with night vision googles and trackeddown the beacon."
The avalanche had hit the trio's tents where they were camping at the head of Lake Te Anau.
"It covered them with snow and ice, and it blew them off their seat," Mullally said.
"They were lucky."
People needed to be wary of avalanches around this time of year as the warmer temperatures, combined with some rain, had increased the risk of avalanche, Mullally said.