Canadian climber rescued near Arthur's Pass

Arthur's Pass village and Otira Gorge in the middle of the Southern Alps in the South Island. File photo / Simon Baker

A solo climber has been rescued this afternoon after becoming stuck in "an extremely precarious position" on a remote South Island glacier.

The Canadian woman activated her United States-registered personal locator beacon (PLB) just after noon today.

She got into trouble climbing a ravine at the edge of the Goldney Glacier on the eastern side of Mt Rolleston, near Arthur's Pass.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) detected the beacon and sent a New Zealand Coal and Carbon Ltd (NZCC) rescue helicopter from Greymouth which arrived about 1.20pm.

RCCNZ search and rescue mission co-ordinator Greg Johnston said that after assessing the situation the helicopter flew to Arthur's Pass to pick up a member of the cliff rescue team before returning to winch the woman to safety.

"She was unharmed but was in an extremely precarious position, and unable to move," Mr Johnston said.

"It was a quite a challenging rescue but well executed by the helicopter crew."