Missing skier Tom Gratadour was found about 5pm yesterday near Rumbling Burn after a day-long aerial and ground search in the mountains west of Lake Wanaka.
He was found walking back to his car in the West Wanaka Station car park.
Mr Gratadour, the world junior freestyle champion, failed to return as scheduled yesterday from a solo back-country ski touring trip on Mt Alta.
He was not carrying a personal locator beacon.
Police were alerted to the situation by Mr Gratadour's housemate in Wanaka.
Wanaka Police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said they were delighted to have found Mr Gratadour and it was ''a good outcome'', but it needed to be emphasised how important it was to carry a personal locator beacon when in the back country.
''With the weather deteriorating rapidly and more snow expected tonight, it could well have been a different outcome,'' Sgt Nicholson said.
Wanaka police and search and rescue volunteers started the search for Mr Gratadour yesterday morning after the 18-year-old Lyon native failed to return.
A preliminary aerial search yesterday morning failed to find any sign of him.
Four search and rescue teams were deployed during the day.
A helicopter search found ski touring tracks above the Minaret Burn and he was located walking out back to his car.
Mr Gratadour was taken back to the Wanaka SAR base, before being left to go back to his accommodation.
Mr Gratadour won the Freeride Junior Fieberbrunn 2017 competition in Austria in March. New Zealander Finn Duffy (18) won the snowboard section of the same competition.
