A St John paramedic tends to a man injured in a speed-flight crash on Wanaka's Mt Iron yesterday evening. Photo by Matthew Haggart.
The 33-year-old man crashed shortly after he took off on a speed-riding flight from near the 548m-high summit of Mt Iron in calm conditions, about 5pm.
Speed-flying is an extreme version of paraponting which involves smaller and more manoeuvrable chutes, allowing riders to take a high-velocity flight path down a slope while staying only metres above the ground.
The man told emergency services he had hit a tree and then hit the ground.
He landed on the zig-zag walking track about halfway down the Wanaka side of Mt Iron.
The man was carried by stretcher-bearers down Mt Iron to an ambulance and was taken to the Wanaka Medical Centre, where he was scheduled to be assessed for suspected back injuries last night.
