A group of skiers in New Zealand have survived an avalanche near Treble Cone Ski Area in the South Island's largest ski area.
They were in an out-of-bounds area near Treble Cone when they triggered an avalanche in the Hidden Valley area early on Sunday afternoon, the ski area operator says.
It was estimated to be a "size two" avalanche on a scale of one to five, which is large enough to bury a person.
The avalanche was up to half a metre deep in open terrain, and the four people in the group were not caught in it and skied out safely.
Heavy snow this weekend has raised the avalanche risk at mountains throughout the country.
Treble Cone has a snow base of 142cm in its home basin and had 22cm of new snow in the last 24 hours, according to the ski area's report on Sunday.
