A hunter survived a 30m plunge down a cliff when his fall was slightly broken by trees.
The man suffered suspected spinal and chest injuries after falling in the ranges east of Taupo yesterday.
Taupo's Greenlea Rescue Helicopter pilot Nat Every said the man a hunting companion had been flown into the ranges by helicopter yesterday morning.
"While hiking the ground beneath one of the men's feet gave way and he tumbled down near a vertical bank around 100 feet.
"His fall was arrested slightly by trees before he came to a rest on a shelf."
The man's hunting companion was able to make his way down to his friend by a slightly different route.
They activated a personal locator beacon and the rescue helicopter was alerted by the Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
Mr Every said the steep terrain and high trees meant a paramedic and a land search and rescue volunteer had to be slung down to the man on a longline.
The injured hunter was flown in a stretcher to a nearby clearing before being loaded in the helicopter and airlifted to Hastings Hospital.
