Two skiers have been rescued from a crevasse in a glacier high in the Alps after nearly 24 hours.

Mountain rescue spokeswoman Maria Riedler told the Austria Press Agency that the men, an Austrian and a German, were plucked out of the crevasse by helicopter this morning.

She said they were cold but in good condition, and had kept each other awake during the night. They were taken to a hospital.

The two experienced skiers fell about four metres (13 feet) yesterday morning into the crevasse on the Grosses Wiesbachhorn mountain in Salzburg province at an altitude of some 3,300 metres (10,800 feet).

The men alerted authorities by mobile phone, but bad weather thwarted rescue attempts yesterday.