Snowboarder airlifted after falling 50m up Remarkables

July 10, 2025

A 27-year-old Wānaka climber / snowboarder was airlifted to Southland Hospital after slipping backwards, falling over a steep cliff, dropping 20m then sliding another 30m into the Grand Couloir on the Remarkables.

Police say the man suffered a badly broken arm and possible head injury in the fall from the top of the popular shute, which starts between Single and Double Cone close to the summit of the Remarkables running down to Lake Alta.

Remarkables Ski Area ski patrollers assisted an Otago Southland Helicopter’s paramedic to get to the man, who was believed to have been crossing the Grand Traverse with a skier friend, after they activated a personal locator beacon, around 3pm on Monday.

Police had the Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue Team on standby due to the steep, tricky terrain but they were stood down, with the paramedic able to get to the man.

Cliff Rescue Team co-ordinator Russ Tilsley says he believes the paramedic was winched into a point 5m to 6m below the patient, climbing up then winching him out.

“I understand they’d come over the top of the GT (Grand Traverse) and stopped halfway to ski Grand Couloir, but conditions are patchy as is usual this early in the season,” Tilsley says.

“He’s probably slipped on ice, but he was a bit beaten up. I believe he may have also injured a rib.”

As it’s still early in the season the snow cover isn’t that great up high at present and it was likely quite icy, he says. People just need to be aware that they’re in mountainous terrain and cover can be patchy this early in the season.

A St John Ambulance spokesperson says they were notified at 3.12pm, dispatching two helicopters. The patient was assessed at the scene then airlifted to Southland Hospital in a moderate condition.