A family of four from Hong Kong were lucky their rental van did not roll further than 40m down a gully after it came off the Remarkables access road yesterday, and rolled ''several times'', ripping a door off.
After the 5pm accident, the family was taken to Lakes District Hospital, the daughter with a suspected broken ankle and the rest of the family apparently uninjured.
Fire crews used a rescue basket to haul a family member up to the road.
Sergeant Keith Newell, of Queenstown, said it appeared the driver had lost control of the van while driving down from the Remarkables skifield, just past Windy Point, after their first day skiing.
''They've come round a tight left-hand corner on a gravel road and lost control of the car. It's gone off the road and rolled several times 40m down a bank,'' Sgt Newell said.
He said the family were ''very, very lucky''. Three police units, two ambulances and three fire units attended.
Senior station officer of the Frankton Volunteer Fire Brigade Grant Bewley said a door on the van had been ripped off during impact and the family were lucky not to have been thrown from the vehicle.
''It's come to rest in a small gully, and if that gully wasn't there, they would have continued another 50-60m,'' Mr Bewley said.
The accident was not witnessed but a family first on the scene helped the Hong Kong visitors.
