A 56-year-old nelson man who badly fractured a leg and injured his head when he fell about 5m in the Gorge River valley during a tramping trip in South Westland is recovering in Dunedin Hospital after a challenging helicopter rescue on Thursday afternoon.
Wanaka LandSAR chairman Roy Bailey said the man and his two companions "did everything right" and helped speed up the rescue because they had a personal locator beacon.
"Without that, he would have been in there way longer. He would have been there at least another day," Mr Bailey said.
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre alerted police mid-afternoon, who in turn got hold of Mr Bailey, Aspiring Helicopters pilot James Ford and alpine cliff rescue team member Davy Robinson.
Mr Ford had the rescue team at the accident site by about 5.30pm.
They could have got there more quickly had he been able to fly directly from Cattle Flat over the Mt Aspiring National Park, but heavy rain and low clouds meant the team had to fly over the Haast Pass and down the coast, a journey of about an hour, Mr Ford said.
Mr Ford said the rescue was straightforward but challenging factors included the constant rain, the distance and the remoteness of Gorge River.
It had not been possible to land at the accident site, about halfway up the river gorge, so he landed in a clearing about 200m away.
The rescue team walked up to the injured man with a stretcher and prepared a "human sling".
The man's tramping companions were flown to a nearby Department of Conservation Hut and then Mr Ford used a long line to pick up the stretcher and the patient.
The patient was moved back to the clearing and transferred into the helicopter.
The use of a long line and "human sling" is a common mountain rescue practice with helicopters that do not have winches.
Mr Ford then met the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter at Makarora, where the patient was transferred and flown to Dunedin Hospital.
Mr Bailey said the injured man's companions were left behind at the hut and would walk out.
