Rescuers say there was probably more chance of winning this week's Big Wednesday Lotto prize than a successful conclusion to a search for a woman missing on Mt Ruapehu near nightfall.
However, the rescue effort had a positive outcome in the nick of time for the woman who had not returned from a day hike to Lake Surprise on the west of Mt Ruapehu on Monday.
"Despite the beautiful weather that day, with the drop in temperature as night fell I don't think it is out of the question to say that this woman owes her life to the LandSAR/Ruapehu Alpine Rescue volunteers who spotted her trail and the National Park Police who directed the right people to the right places in an incredibly tight timeframe," a spokesperson for the Taupo-based Greenlea Rescue Helicopter said.
The alarm was raised when the woman sent a text message to say she had lost her way, was following a river and that her phone battery was going flat. A group of colleagues, who set out later than the woman, completed the return hike without sighting her.
With no further information or contact, and with two hours of daylight remaining, National Park Police contacted the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter to search the most likely areas of interest before darkness.