A man has died after falling into Crater Lake at Mount Ruapehu.

Emergency services were flown to the scene via helicopter at around 1.50pm.

The man was recovered from the lake by members of the group he was with before emergency services arrived.

An eyewitness told 1 NEWS that the man and a friend were having lunch, when their personal items began to slide down the hill.

They both slid down the ice to retrieve their items and one of them managed to stop, but the other couldn't and fell into the crater.