Man injured in avalanche in Queenstown on Ben Lomond

A snowboarder injured in an avalanche near Queenstown today was swept 400m down the mountain and over cliffs.

At about 11am, he and a skier were tackling a steep south face on 1748m-high Ben Lomond, which can be reached via a popular walking track from the lakeside Otago town.

The avalanche.net.nz report for the Queenstown mountains until about 6.15pm today puts the hazard level at "low", but also warned of "unstable snow on isolated terrain features".

The snowboarder was rescued by helicopter after his partner called 111. The rescue helicopter was sent with an advanced paramedic and three snow patrollers from Coronet Peak skifield, who were picked up on the way.

Head patroller Alan Swann said the snowboarder was not buried in the avalanche, which was relatively small but had serious consequences because of the line of cliffs.

He said the pair were very experienced, were carrying the right avalanche safety equipment and called 111. This meant, apart from the man's injuries, the outcome was a good one.

"They did 90 per cent of things correctly."

Swann said the snowboarder sustained moderate injuries.

Mountain Safety Council spokesman Nick Kingstone said: "We want to highlight that a 'low risk' doesn't necessarily mean that there are no dangers present."

He said the forecast had accurately described the need to watch out for "windslab" - a layer of consolidated, unstable snow that can form on some slopes after periods of wind.

The Queenstown forecast warned that, "with the odd pocket of windslab below ridge-line you need to be wary of [snow] pillows in steep terrain" on slopes facing generally south or east.

Ben Lomond is popular with ski-tourers, but not the steeper south face.

View this post on Instagram

Re: Ben Lomond incident | Glad everyone made it out of this situation. Excellent example of the need for all backcountry users to read the forecasts carefully. Terrain traps that you could be taken into by isolated ‘wind slabs’ are possible even on ‘Low’ danger days! #MakeItHomeNZ

A post shared by NZ Avalanche Advisory (@nzavalancheadvisory) on Aug 23, 2018 at 10:29pm PDT

The snowboarder was taken to Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown.

A police spokeswoman confirmed this morning they had been called to an incident on Ben Lomond.

A St John spokesman said the ambulance service was notified at 11.17am.

A helicopter and ambulance were being sent from Queenstown.

A spokesman for the Rescue Coordination Centre said at 11.30am they had not received an emergency locator beacon activation and had not been contacted by police.

The Ben Lomond track is above Queenstown.

Additional reporting: Otago Daily Times