Snow traps people in huts

Children trapped by heavy snow spent last night eating marshmallows by the fire after their group broke into a hut in a remote national park near Nelson.

Two adults and four children broke into the hut to take shelter for the night in Kahurangi National Park after their cars became stuck in snow near Cobb Valley Rd.

The group called police shortly after 10am on Saturday to say one of their vehicles was stuck in a ditch and the other could not continue because of heavy snow. They said they had food, including marshmallows, phone coverage and plenty of firewood.

They were keeping in touch with Search and Rescue staff who would make a call on how best to proceed this morning.

Meanwhile, dozens of people have been evacuated from Mt Rua- pehu after getting trapped when blizzard conditions hit.

The mountain was closed yesterday and 30 people were stuck at lodges and huts, including the Whakapapa Lodge and the Massey University Alpine Club.

Staff from Ruapehu Alpine Lifts spent much of the day convoying people down the mountain.

‘‘It has been a bit of a delay because of the snowfall . . . we’re in the process of convoying people down,’’ a spokesperson said.

Marketing manager Anna Mclaren said conditions had made for a slow rescue.

‘‘It’s been blizzard conditions up there and a number of the clubbies from the lodges were caught up there. The ops crew arrived at work this morning and realised that there had been heavy snow fall overnight and it was still coming in.’’