More than 1000 skiers were stranded for nearly 24 hours as high winds hit Mount Hutt in New Zealand yesterday. Gale-forced winds of up to 200km per hour prevented them from descending as they sheltered in mountainside cafés.

300 children were among the 1100 skiers trapped when the weather rapidly deteriorated on Thursday. Unfortunately, there is no ski accommodation on Mt Hutt so the stranded skiers were forced to take refuge in 2 popular cafes to escape the wind.

As the main access road to the Mount Hutt ski area was closed, the skiers had to spend Thursday night on the mountain before making their way down to safety on Friday morning.