Alpine climber falls from cliff
This afternoon Taupo's Greenlea rescue helicopter was involved in a dramatic rescue of an alpine climber on
Mt Ruapehu.
National Park Police co-ordinated a search and rescue response involving RARO (Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation) / LandSAR volunteers assisted by Whakapapa ski patrol and Iwikau medical centre staff.
The Rescue helicopter arrived to find the man suspended by his climbing ropes on a near vertical icy rock face.
The Greenlea helicopter lifted a rescuer on a110' static long line to the scene and held him there while the RARO team member put the climber into a harness and the pair was lifted from the cliff face and flown to an adjacent staging area above the Whakapapa Ski area.
The man was subsequently flown down the mountain and stabilised by Iwikau medical centre doctors and OSJ paramedics before being transported to Waikato Hospital.
