New Zealand climbers survive avalanche and blizzard, thanks to snow cave and muesli bars

The two men were at the end of a three-day trip in The Remarkables above Queenstown when they triggered an avalanche

Two climbers who were buried by an avalanche and then caught in a blizzard atop one of New Zealand's most famous mountain ranges survived their ordeal by digging themselves out of the snow, building a cave and living off muesli bars.

The two men in their 20s were on a three-day ice climbing adventure in The Remarkables - a 2,300-metre high range above Queenstown - when they triggered an avalanche and were carried about 20 metres downhill.