A Chinese tourist has serious injuries after falling from a ridge while climbing on the Remarkables Range near Queenstown on Sunday.
The 25-year-old woman, who was with a male companion at the time of the incident, was flown to Frankton’s Lakes District Hospital about 7pm after the alarm was raised at 5.18pm.
Lakes District Air Rescue Trust manager Ed Halson said the woman fell from the ridge above Lake Alta and slid at least 30m down a steep ice and snow chute known as Elevator, before coming to a stop in rock debris.
The "immobilised" woman was assessed by a St John paramedic as having suspected spinal injuries.
She was placed on a spinal board stretcher and lifted from the slope with a long line before being placed in the helicopter, Mr Halson said.
St John communications adviser Robbie Walker confirmed the woman’s injuries were serious.
She was later transferred to Dunedin Hospital. The hospital was unable to provide an update on her condition.
