A group of climbers have survived a treacherous night stuck on a cliff face in the Gold Coast hinterland after their phones sent them the wrong way.
One woman was knocked unconscious by a falling rock before a complex plan for their rescue was hatched.
The group of four was spotted from above frantically waving for help trapped halfway up a 420-metre cliff face.
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They sounded the alarm at 5.15pm yesterday after loosing their footing on Tamborine Mountain and sliding down an embankment.
A falling rock knocked one hiker unconscious.
"Unfortunately it appears their GPS within their phone has put them on the wrong path," Senior Sergeant Mitchell Gray said.
A vertical rescue team did all they could to reach them, calling in a rescue chopper for backup.
Jed Crosby from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said rescuers to wait until this morning to get them.
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"It was just a number of factors that led to quite a dangerous situation for them," Crosby said.
"Just the terrain, how dense and thick the bushland was, as well as the steep drop off, he rescue was just too great for rescuers, so we decided to just wait until morning."
The climbers huddled together, strapping themselves to trees before waiting through the night in treacherous conditions.
A gruelling 16 hours after the first triple zero call was made, the group was finally brought to safety.
The 51-year-old woman who'd suffered a concussion was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police said the hikers were "hungry" and "extremely thirsty".