KEY POINTS:
A Frenchman lucky to be alive after a freezing night stuck on a South Island mountain plans to shout champagne for his rescuers.
Florian Guillonneau, 28, got lost after going off the usual track while snowboarding on Canterbury's Mt Hutt on Tuesday.
He spent the night in temperatures as low as - 3C.
He was adequately equipped for a day's snowboarding, but not for a stay overnight, said Mt Hutt ski area manager Dave Wilson.
His predicament was worsened when he fell into a creek, soaking his clothes.
He huddled under trees for the night, then walked out and was spotted by a helicopter crew about 9.30am yesterday.
He was airlifted to Ashburton Hospital for treatment for hypothermia.
Mr Guillonneau was too tired to speak to the Herald yesterday, but his employer Debbie Taylor, who was with him at the hospital, said he was in "very good spirits and very thankful".
"He's just very, very relieved, and so are we all," she said.
"He wants to come back and shout champagne for everybody. He's going to buy a lottery ticket - that's what we told him to do anyway."
While more of a surfer than a snowboarder, people who knew him always thought he would survive "because we knew he was very strong-spirited".
The "flamboyant Frenchman" was able to see for a few hours of darkness by lighting a tealight candle Ms Taylor had given him, and was able to light a single cigarette that did not get wet.
The first thing he wanted when off the mountain was a meal from McDonald's.
The rescue co-ordinator, Senior Constable Greg Sutherland said if Mr Guillonneau had not been found yesterday, searching for him in an incoming bout of heavy rain and snow would have been very difficult.
"He probably wouldn't have survived another night out there. I thought he could have been a lot worse," Mr Sutherland said.
After treatment at Ashburton Hospital yesterday, Mr Guillonneau's body temperature had begun to return to normal. He was expected to stay in hospital overnight.
He has been working as a dishwasher and living in Methven, near Mount Hutt, with his girlfriend for the past couple of months.
