KEY POINTS:
A climber spent five hours abseiling down a perilous Fiordland cliff yesterday to get help for his injured mate.
Constable Alan Johnston, of Te Anau, said the two New Zealand climbers were at 2000m near Turner Pass on Mount Tutoko, north of Milford Sound, about 7am when one of them slipped and dislocated his shoulder while climbing a rock chute near a glacier.
The uninjured climber gave his companion medication and made sure he was comfortable and that he was "not going to fall off the cliff" , Southern Lakes Helicopter winch operator Lloyd Matheson said.
He then inched down the sheer glacial ice and rock mountain face by rope.
He reached the Tutoko Valley safely and made his way out to Milford Sound, where he raised the alarm about 4pm.
A Southern Lakes rescue helicopter located the injured climber and used a scoop net to get him off the mountain.
He was flown to the Te Anau Medical Centre for treatment for his injured shoulder.
- NZPA
