Snowboarder at Turoa plunged 15 metres

The unpatrolled area of Mt Ruapehu where a snowboarder slipped and fell 15m from the cliff. Photo / Max King

A snowboarder who slipped on ice at the top of a steep cliff before plummeting 15 metres was lucky to survive, an onlooker says.

Wellingtonian Max King, 25, was on the Turoa side of Mt Ruapehu with two friends on Sunday when a series of accidents occurred within hours of each other above Mangaehuehu Glacier.

He and his friends, who often snowboarded in the unpatrolled area, saw the final accident of the afternoon about 3.30pm, and said the boarder - who appeared to be in his early 20s - had managed to get to an area people normally avoided.

"We thought he might be able to get to the right where there is a bit of snow that he could ride down, but on his way over he slipped on some ice and pretty much fell straight down," Mr King said.

"My friends and I, and also his group of friends, were putting our hands in a cross symbol to try and shout out to him that it was a pretty dodgy area to be riding in. It was pretty much a free-fall from the top of the cliff to the bottom."

It was not clear last night what injuries he had suffered or how the snowboarder was transported off the mountain.

Four snowboarders and skiers from a separate group had slipped from another location on the cliff earlier in the afternoon, with rescue personnel saying the group then slid 200 metres over ice.

"The two accidents would have been within about 30m of each other," Mr King said.

According to a rescuer, the group are believed to have fallen about 2pm after taking a wrong turn and failing to see the 15m drop in time,

One of the men suffered serious spinal injuries and was flown to Middlemore Hospital and underwent surgery on Sunday. Two others, one with head injuries, were airlifted to Rotorua Hospital. By yesterday, one had been discharged, while the other was in a stable condition.

Mr King said the area where the accidents occurred was relatively popular with snowboarders and skiers.

"It's become quite popular in the last three or four years since they put the new lift in."