Woman hit by Boulder on slopes of Mt Ngauruhoe

This morning Taupo's greenlea Rescue Helicopter was called to the upper slopes of Mt Ngauruhoe where a 27 year old Swiss woman had been struck by a boulder.

The woman was descending the mountain when another climber above her dislodged a boulder which came careering toward her.

She managed to duck the main force of the rock, but in the process of protecting herself received a suspected compound fracture to her arm and a laceration to her head.

The boulder was described by a witness as a monster.

The woman was retrieved from the steep slope using a long line recovery system