A man has survived a significant fall while on a chairlift at a ski resort in the NSW Snowy Mountains — plunging metres onto the snow below.

Key points: A man sustains bruising after a chairlift falls 5 metres onto snow on the Gunbarrel Express at Thredbo

A man sustains bruising after a chairlift falls 5 metres onto snow on the Gunbarrel Express at Thredbo Thredbo management say a "freak gust of wind" caused the chair to dislodge and fall

Thredbo management say a "freak gust of wind" caused the chair to dislodge and fall It follows a similar incident on the same chairlift in 2016

The skier was on a chairlift on the Gunbarrel Express, nearing the top of the mountain, when the chair became dislodged from the cable above and plummeted to the ground.

The incident occurred around 3:00pm on Monday.

Skiers reported that the Kosciuszko Express lift had to be stopped briefly in the morning due to high winds, on what locals described as not a particularly windy day.

Photographs supplied to the ABC suggest the man would have fallen at least 5 metres from the chairlift to the snow below.

The skier walked away with minor bruising.

In a statement, Thredbo Ski Resort management said the man was travelling on his own at the top of the chairlift when a "freak gust of wind" caused the chair to dislodge from the cable and fall.

"The guest involved in the incident sustained minor bruising only," a spokeswoman said.

"No other guests or chairs were affected."

SafeWork NSW investigating

Thredbo management said the Gunbarrel Express chairlift was on standby, and SafeWork NSW confirmed it was undertaking an assessment of the chairlift.

"Following notification of a chairlift incident at Thredbo ski fields, SafeWork inspectors, supported by independent engineers, are undertaking an assessment of the chairlift," the spokeswoman said.

"The chairlift was subject to a non-disturbance order once passengers had safely disembarked.

"The non-disturbance order will remain in place until investigations, which are ongoing, are complete."

The skier walked away with only bruising after plunging onto the snow below. ( Supplied: Snowsbest.com )

NSW Police said they were aware of the incident, but no report had been made.

A severe weather warning for vigorous winds is current over the Snowy Mountains today, with a strong cold front bringing blizzard conditions.

Similar to 2016 incident

A similar incident was reported in 2016, when a chair fell off the same lift in the same spot while it was operating.

On that occasion a "freak gust of wind" was also cited as the cause, although the chair involved was not carrying passengers.

The incident prompted a thorough safety inspection of all cables on the Gunbarrel Express.