Climbing is a tough activity. It is definitely not for the faint of heart. The risks and hardships climbers face are no small matter. However, tragedy is always just a couple of doors away so it’s always prudent to tread with caution. While some people definitely live on the wild side, there is often a price to pay for everything. Still, very fortunate, some live on to tell the tale while others aren’t as lucky. Today’s subject, an NZ man, should definitely count himself among the fortunate ones after surviving a 600-meter (nearly 2,000-foot) drop down the side of one of NZ’s most dangerous mountains.

Authorities claimed the man was “exceptionally lucky” to be alive.

Fall of the NZ Man

The unidentified man was on his way to climb the summit of  Mount Taranaki. The snow-capped mountain, which many have considered a dangerous climb, has already claimed multiple lives. However, the subject of today’s story had a massive stroke of luck on his side, which very evidently saved him from succumbing to the drop.

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The man, in fact, had been making the climb with a group of people. However, while scaling the mountain, he lost his footing, slipped, and fell. Soon enough, he slid down the side of the mountain on NZ’s North Island and eventually slipped out of anyone’s field of vision. Despite the stomach-churning drop, the man surprisingly only sustained minor injuries due to the fall, according to the police.

“Having watched their fellow climber slide down the mountain and out of view, another member of the group climbed down to try and locate them,” police said. The climber lost his ice axe and crampons during the fall, which took place on Saturday afternoon. Previously, in 2021, two other climbers had fallen off the mountain to their deaths after slipping on the same spot.

How Authorities Guaged the Situation

Scaling Mount Taranaki requires immensely “special skill and preparation” due to chilling sub-zero temperatures and being highly prone to avalanches. Authorities have described the summit as one of the country’s deadliest mountains.” They have urged climbers taking on Mount Taranaki to carry the correct equipment, adding that carrying a distress beacon could save your life.

The authorities claimed that the only reason that the man from NZ survived the fall was due to the snow that had softened up a little during the spring month. “Thanks to recent spring weather, the ice had softened, and the snow caught the climber’s fall. He is exceptionally lucky to be alive,” authorities said in a statement. “Failing to be properly equipped could result in a very different ending to Saturday’s story,” they added.