A 27-year-old Australian woman has died in an avalanche in Austria.

State police confirmed that a group of four Australians were off-piste (backcountry) snowboarding in the district of Landeck in Tyrol when they were hit by a 150-metre-wide avalanche.

All four were dragged a distance of 400 to 500 metres by the snow, partly over rocky ground.

They were not buried by the snow but dragged along the surface.

Tyrol police said two helicopters were involved in a rescue operation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs was providing consular assistance to the dead woman's family.

A 30-year-old Australian man was airlifted in a critical condition to hospital in Innsbruck where he underwent surgery.

Police said the man later gained consciousness and that while his recovery could take weeks or months, his condition was no longer considered critical.

The other two Australians, a man and a woman in their late 20s, were uninjured.

The uninjured man was understood to have returned to the UK where he resides.

Poor weather and the danger of further avalanches meant investigations at the site of the accident had to be postponed.

Twenty-one people have died in avalanches in Austria during this year's ski season.