The police say a woman in her 20s was lucky to escape serious injury after falling 15 metres down a crevasse in the Whangaehu Glacier on Mt Ruapehu yesterday.
A Greenlea rescue helicopter took a team onto Mt Ruapehu so they could help a woman who had fallen down a crevasse. Photo: Supplied
They say a rescue helicopter was able to land on the crevasse at about 5pm and lift the uninjured woman out using ropes and harness equipment.
Police received a distress call from a mountaineering group around 2.40pm to say the woman had fallen down the crevasse, on the eastern side of the mountain.
Rescuers prepare to use ropes and harness equipment. Photo: Supplied / NZ police
The climbers could not see the woman but they were able to talk to her.
A rescue operation was and the Greenlea rescue helicopter was sent to the glacier from Taupo, after picking up members of the LandSAR Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation (RARO).
Staff from the Tukino ski field were also on standby in case adverse weather prevented the helicopter from reaching the location.
The helicopter was able to land at the site, and the RARO team made their way 100 metres downhill to the location where the woman had fallen.
Using ropes and harness equipment, the woman was lifted out of the crevasse at about 6.40pm. Police say she was uninjured and in good spirits.
Police have praised the mountaineering group for their help in the rescue.