Rescuers reach injured Vic abseiler

An injured abseiler is recovering in hospital after spending 19 hours in icy conditions in Victoria's high country.

The 24-year-old man was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition with injuries to his back, shoulder and ankle.

He fell about 20 metres while abseiling on the north wall of the Buffalo Gorge at Mount Buffalo in the state's northeast on Sunday.

Rescuers hiked in and reached him about 4.30am on Monday.

They assessed his injuries as non life-threatening and bunkered down with him until dawn.

Temperatures hovered around zero degrees overnight, with snow down to 1500m.