New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been evacuated from a remote mountain hut after the death of her close friend and mountain guide Gottlieb Braun-Elwert.

Area commander of Mid South Canterbury police Inspector Dave Gaskin says atrocious weather conditions prevented initial attempts to reach the party in the remote Lake Tekapo region yesterday.

The 59-year-old father-of-two Braun-Elwert suffered a heart attack while on a climbing trip with Clark, her husband Peter Davis and others, including cabinet ministers David Parker and Damien O'Connor.