A German backpacker is tonight in Rotorua Hospital after sliding 50m down an icy slope near the summit of Mt Tongariro.
The 19-year-old and his three companions were hiking over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing at about 1pm today when he slipped and fell, while on the side trip to the
Mt Tongariro summit. Fortunately he stopped before falling over a bluff.
His friends called ambulance and the Taupo based Greenlea Rescue Helicopter with crew was dispatched to the mountain.
The icy surface meant that nobody was able to climb down to him, and it was too risky for the helicopter to hover above him while he lay in his precarious position, so a two man LandSAR RARO (Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation) team was flown in to assist.
The two rescuers accessed him using crampons and ice axes. He was then lifted off the mountain, treated by a St John Advanced Paramedic, and flown to hospital.
