Daring chopper resuce for fallen climber

A climber with a broken leg was airlifted to hospital at Mt Ruapehu yetserday. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A climber is lucky to escape with just a broken leg after falling 60 metres at an altitude of 2600m on Mt Ruapehu, rescuers said today.

Aucklander Andrew Blair, 37, had reached the top of the peak and was making his descent when he fell down the snow face between Tahurangi Peak and Girdlestone Peak yesterday.

One of his two companions was able to contact emergency services by mobile phone and the Youthtown Trust Rescue Helicopter was called out from Taupo.

Four members of the Turoa ski patrol were dropped at the scene and Mr Blair was taken 50m to a site for him to be loaded on to the hovering helicopter.

He was admitted to Rotorua Hospital with multiple injuries, the most serious being his broken left leg.

Helicopter pilot Hendry de Waal said the 20 to 25-knot winds made the hour-long operation a tricky one.

He said Mr Blair was fortunate in that he could have fallen much further.

He was cold and in plenty of discomfort when rescuers got to him.

"He had been lying there with his friends for almost an hour in that cold wind," he said.

"He was hypothermic and in quite a lot of pain."

One of Mr Blair's co-climbers, Anthony Stead, said all three in the group had had a couple of seasons of experience on Mt Ruapehu and what happened was a freak accident.

He agreed Mr Blair was lucky to have avoided more serious injury.

"He stopped halfway down a big, long face," he said.

"He could have fallen down another kilometre or so and that would have been a lot worse."

Mr Stead phoned for help as he and the other member of the party, Magnus Flock, tended to Mr Blair, building a snow shelter to keep the wind off him.

Mr Stead had plenty of praise for the efficiency of the rescue operation.

"It was just before 4pm when I made the call and helicopter had him off the mountain by 6," he said.

"I was amazed it was so quick."

- NZPA