Wanaka SAR co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson said the 16-year-old youth was taking photographs at the Treble Cone summit when he slipped down a slope at the back of the mountain, outside the skifield boundary, on to rocks below.
''He's very, very lucky to be alive.''
A companion skied down to raise the alarm and the injured youth was airlifted from the site about an hour later by Aspiring Helicopters, assisted by three members of LandSAR Wanaka Alpine Cliff Rescue team.
He was transferred to the St John base, then taken to Dunedin Hospital, where he remained last night with serious head, shoulder and pelvic injuries.
The youth was understood to be an exchange student living in Wanaka temporarily. He was not part of a school group when the accident occurred, Sgt Nicholson said.
