The man spent most of Monday night holed up in a snow cave and was found about 5am yesterday by 10 Sar volunteers after a six-hour search.
A helicopter was sent to the Pisa Range from Queenstown by the national rescue co-ordination centre in Wellington, after an emergency locator beacon was activated on Monday afternoon.
However, gale-force winds, thick low cloud and fading light grounded the aerial search attempt and the land-based Wanaka Sar team moved into the area before midnight.
Wanaka Sar team co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said the man's wife contacted them about 10pm on Monday to say her husband had not returned from his tramp to Mt Pisa.
The man's vehicle was located at the Mount Pisa walking track car park, near Cardrona, and the Sar team was deployed in darkness to look for the lost tramper.
"Potentially, he could have died from exposure given the altitude he was at, above the snow line, combined with the high winds and bad weather at the time," Sgt Nicholson said.
The man had become lost in zero visibility "white-out" conditions in an area surrounded by dangerous and steep bluffs.
The "very experienced" tramper had done everything right when he activated his emergency beacon and dug himself in for the night.
The man was well clothed and more than adequately prepared, given he had set out on a day tramp, Sgt Nicholson said.
"He was pretty pleased to see the flashlights and, once we had him back in the car, he thawed out quickly."
The man had not needed any medical attention and was taken to Queenstown to be reunited with his wife.
The couple, from Rolleston, near Christchurch, are holidaying in Queenstown.
