The Wanaka teenager, a promising snowboarder selected in the junior snowsports development programme for the 2014 Winter Olympics, consumed a one-litre bottle of 35% proof Jagermeister in about 30 minutes on Saturday night.
The amount consumed equals 28 standard drinks, according to the Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council's guidelines.
Yesterday, Wanaka police were following a line of inquiry which involves the alleged theft of a bottle of alcohol from the bar of a backpackers by a 15-year-old Tauranga boy.
Meanwhile, in Dunedin hospital, the Wanaka teenager was being brought out of a coma by accident and emergency staff and would be kept sedated and under observation to assist with his recovery from alcohol poisoning.
His condition was said to be stable last night.
The two boys at the centre of the inquiry were among a group of 33 of New Zealand's top junior snowsports athletes taking part in a four-day training camp in Wanaka, and staying at Base Backpackers.
Adam Dooney, the training camp director, told the Otago Daily Times he found the boy unconscious on the floor of a dormitory hallway in the backpackers.
Paramedics were called to the scene about 10pm on Saturday.
The boy was taken to the Wanaka Medical Centre and then transferred by ambulance to Dunstan Hospital before a helicopter was called to fly him to Dunedin.
Two adults were in charge of supervising the group during the camp.
All of the children had been checked in their dormitories at 9.15pm, Mr Dooney said.
About half an hour later, an alarmed youngster rushed to tell him about the boy's condition.
A shaken-looking Snowsports NZ CEO Ross Palmer told the ODT how shocked he was by the incident, immediately after a meeting with police, concerned parents and camp participants yesterday morning.
"Our immediate concern is for the boy and his family. We want to do everything we can to support them."
A review and the amount of supervision for future camps would be held because "we want to do everything in our power to avoid this happening again", he said.
There was an immediate sense of "huge" disappointment that such an incident had taken place on a Snowsports NZ training camp, Mr Palmer said.
Constable Greg Nolet, of Wanaka, said reports from other camp participants indicated that the boy had drunk the allegedly stolen bottle of spirits after it was produced by another boy.
People "at some stage" needed to be held responsible for the consequences of "peer pressure", Const Nolet said.
"As this young man is finding out, the consequences of [abusing] alcohol can be dire."
Concerned parents told the ODT the camp and its objectives were very positive and it was hard to believe something so shocking had happened at the end.
