Avalanche claims snowboarder's life

Rescue crews set off to look for the snowboarder. Photo / Otago Daily Times

A snowboarder died in hospital after being rescued from an avalanche at Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski resort last night.

Rescuers found the man after a search lasting several hours. His friends had reported him missing in the slip, off-piste near the Greengates Express chair, about 4.40pm.

He was airlifted to Lakes District Hospital about 7.30pm but died shortly afterwards, police said.

Police said last night the victim was a 30-year-old from the Queenstown area. Close family members were with him at the time of the avalanche.

Rescue staff and police dogs combed the area in darkness yesterday in an attempt to find the man. He was found after about two and a half hours after the avalanche struck.

NZ Mountain Safety Council chief executive officer Darryl Carpenter told the Herald that in any rescue things "started to look decidedly bleak" after about 19 minutes in the snow.

The slide came just over a week after the country's first avalanche fatality in five years. Australian Llynden Riethmuller was killed in a 100-tonne slip while heli-skiing in a remote valley near Methven.

Mr Riethmuller was dug out within seven minutes of the avalanche but his guide, Kevin Boekholt, was unable to revive him.