Image copyright Getty ImagesA Czech hiker who went missing a month ago has been found sheltering in a hut in the snowy mountains of southern New Zealand, telling police her husband had fallen to his death nearby.
The woman, who has not been named, was found by a search team near Lake Mackenzie on Wednesday.
Rescuers said she was "ecstatic" to be found and was in reasonable health.
She was taken to hospital where police, who described the case as "very unusual", have been speaking to her.
Heavy snowfall
The woman told police, through a translator, that she and her partner, also thought to be Czech, had set out to hike the Routeburn track between Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks on 24 July, New Zealand media report.
Four days later, he fell down a slope and died, she said. She made it to the hut and stayed in place for the next month amid heavy snowfall.
No search was launched initially as the couple had neither registered their hike with authorities nor were carrying emergency locator beacons.
But after the Czech consulate reported the couple missing, police found their car, apparently parked for some time at one end of their route, and used a search helicopter to help locate the woman.
Questions have been asked about how the woman was able to survive for a month and how they had met no other climbers. The Routeburn track usually takes a few days to complete.
Robyn Orchard of New Zealand"s Department of Conservation, which runs the warden"s hut in which the woman sheltered, told the BBC that while there was no food inside, there would have been some in a nearby lodge.
"She was able to use the heating to keep herself warm" she said, adding that the heavy snow meant track markers were unable to be seen.
Richard Forbes, president of the Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club, told stuff.co.nz that the poor conditions had prompted his own group to change plans to hike that way last weekend.
"If no-one"s been in there because of the snow, I can see how it could happen. And if you"re holed up in the warden"s hut, you could go unnoticed."
The Department of Conservation said it was a "tragic incident"
It warns that in winter the route "should only be attempted by fit, experienced and well-equipped people" and that huts are not regularly checked.
Local police Insp Olaf Jensen said it was "very unusual for someone to be missing in the New Zealand bush for such a long period without it being reported", the New Zealand Herald reported.
"I appreciate there are a number of unanswered questions, however, until we can piece together exactly what has happened we are unable to say anything further."
Police said they hoped to locate the body of the missing man soon.
Czech hiker found after a month in New Zealand mountain hut
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